Neon Genesis Evangelion: That Which Could (not) Happen
by Mr. M.Mars
Summary: In a better world, perhaps different choices could've been made. In a better world, perhaps catastrophes could've been prevented. In a better world, perhaps things could've been different between us. A retelling of Neon Genesis Evangelion in which different decisions are made, and different actions are taken, ultimately changing the final outcome. (Story begins on Episode 8)
1. 00

This is actually a story I wrote a long while back, but never actually was able to fully finish. I've decided to pick it back up and will be posting these hopefully fairly regularly.

Oh, and GAINAX owns Evangelion and all that jazz.

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

As Shinji looked down from the helicopter, he couldn't help but admire the grandness of the ocean's calm serenity. The past month had been so tense and heart pounding that just being able to take a moment to stare off into the endless blue brought about a faint sense of ease upon him.

He found it amazing that something as tranquil as the ocean could even exist in this world. In a world where the fear of Armageddon was always just around the corner, and death ratios of almost two percent were expected during Angel attacks, it left the young EVA pilot nearly dumbfounded to see something so far away from death and pain.

"So Shinji," Misato's voice broke his trance. "are you excited about meeting the Second Child?" Her tone sounded almost playful.

"I guess." He replied, returning his view back towards the window.

"She's really cute, ya know." Shinji turned his head just in time to catch his guardian giving him a wink.

"Misato!" He didn't mean to make an outburst, but he had never been very good at keeping himself composed when such subjects were brought up.

"Oh relax, will ya?" She started teasingly running her hand through his hair. "I swear, I've never met anyone as shy as you." She huffed.

Shinji slowly turned his head back to the window, catching the faint view of a Navy fleet off in the distance. They were close to arriving at their destination, it seemed. He began to wonder what exactly this Second Child was like. Was she quiet and seemingly apathetic like Rei? Was she reluctant and socially awkward like he was? Or was she something completely different?

"So…" He spoke up, breaking the silence between him and Misato. "What's her name?"

The lavender haired woman smirked. "Asuka, Asuka Langley Soryu." She answered. "But just pretend I didn't tell you."

"Why?"

"Because, she…." Katsuragi stopped herself, allowing her to collect her thoughts and plan her next few words carefully. "She likes her introductions."

"Oh." Shinji replied in near monotone before turning back to the window. "Okay."

As he returned to his trance, he could hear the playful antics between Touji and Kensuke going on behind him. The subject of conversation was hard for the young EVA pilot to keep up with, especially with his attention going in and out. One second it would be about 'revealing the truth', the next it would be something about Misato's skirt.

Their conversation began to escape his attention more and more as they grew closer to the armada scattered out amongst the deep blue. While he couldn't help but admire the immenseness of the enterprise class aircraft carrier their helicopter was slowly descending onto, his mind was filled with wonderment about this Second Child.

"Asuka." He whispered to himself as the helicopter began to land atop the carrier's helipad. He had to admit it was a very pretty name.

As they stepped out onto the deck of the ship, Shinji quickly took notice of how busy it was. At least thirty or forty crew members were scattered all along the runway, checking jet fuel, guiding aircraft, and various other tasks that seemed to be important, but due to his lack of knowledge on the workings of a naval vessel, he couldn't truly say one way or the other.

The group started to make their way down the deck as gust of wind picked up from the sea breeze, sending Touji's hat flying off of his head. As Toji pursued it, Shinji began looking up and down the deck to see if he could spot out the Second Child. His eyes scanned all around him, but all he could see were countless men clad in green and the occasional bright orange.

"Hey, get back here!" The lanky teen barked, closing in on the white hat. The gust had finally let up, causing the hat to come to a stop. He reached down to pick it up, only to be met by a red shoe stomping down on it, pinning it to the deck of the ship.

Touji stopped and looked up at the lean teenage girl standing atop his hat. She looked to be of European decent judging by her skin complexion. She also didn't seem to be dressed for being on the deck of an aircraft carrier. The beach perhaps, but not a military vessel. She wore a yellow dress that went down to her knees, along with a pair of fairly nice red dress shoes, which Touji became quite familiar with as he attempted to remove his hat from under them.

"Well, hello Misato. How've you been?" She spoke, revealing her accent. Shinji wasn't exactly knowledgeable of eastern European languages or accents, but if he had to make a guess, he'd say Norwegian.

"Just fine." Katsuragi replied, eyeing the girl. "Goodness, you've grown some, haven't you?"

The girl replied, but Shinji didn't take notice of what she was saying, as he was too busy looking over her features. She was certainly a redhead, but her hair was more auburn than anything. While her hair did stand out, along with her slender face and brilliant blue eyes, Shinji's eyes were drawn to something else entirely. Atop her head sat two A10 clips, the very same clips that were used to pilot EVA Units. The young pilot tilted his head slightly, perplexed as to why she would be wearing them outside of her EVA.

"Shinji,' Misato spoke, bringing his attention towards her. "This is the designated pilot of EVA Unit 02. The Second Child…" The redhead cut her off.

"Asuka Langley Soryu."

Shinji eyed her, and her gaze seemed to be radiating in his direction as well, though not directly at him. She carried a smug look on her face. A look that spoke more so a feeling of superiority than confidence. A moment of silence emerged between the two pilots as the whistle of the wind picked up again, bringing in another gust.

It hit just right though, or just wrong, depending on your perspective. With a single large burst of wind, the bottom of Asuka's yellow dress shot up over her waist, exposing her entire lower half for everyone on the deck to see.

Ikari had a hard time averting his eyes. Her legs were quite long and lean, and just the sight of panties sent his teenage hormones raging. Asuka either didn't notice that Shinji was staring, or she was just too focused on the fact that Touji was standing below her with his hand still tightly griped onto his hat.

With a squeal, she cursed at him in her native tongue and laid her right hand across his face, leaving a red mark behind. Shinji was able to pick up on a few of the words she used, quickly being able to identify her as German. Inwardly he let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he had spared himself from mistakenly referring to her as Norwegian in the future.

"What was that for!?" Touji snapped as he shot up, leaving his hat at the mercy of Asuka's foot.

"That's the viewing fee!" She hissed, placing her hands on her hips. "Quite a bargain, isn't it?"

The young man sneered at her, still flustered from the slap. "Oh yeah?" An evil grin crossed from ear to ear. "Well here's your change!" In one motion he grabbed his track pants and pulled them down to his ankles. Whether or not he meant to pull down his underwear as well, nobody could tell. But they went down along with his pants, leaving himself completely exposed. Asuka could see the immediate look of regret in his face as she stomped towards him, cursing him once again before laying another hard smack across his other cheek.

"So." She huffed, taking her attention away from Touji's marked face. "Which one of you is the famous Third Child?" She asked as she looked over at Shinji and Kensuke. Before she could fully judge the two, the horrible thought crossed her mind that the idiot boy she had just slapped _was_ The Third Child. "Oh nein."

Misato smirked. "Don't worry, it's him." She nudged towards Shinji, who as of yet hadn't said a single word since stepping onto the ship.

Asuka made her way to the Third Child, not paying even the slightest bit of attention to Kensuke. Shinji watched as she grew closer and closer with each step, her ice blue eyes glairing into his hazel. The two locked their gazes with one another, Shinji's expression remaining blank while hers remained more curious than judgmental.

"Hmm." She took in a deep breath and exhaled before speaking. "Well he's not much to look at." Shinji's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. The redhead could see the spark in his eyes, but was disappointed to hear no verbal response. "He's got a pretty weak spine too." She frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean!" He snapped.

The Second Child let a devilish grin escape her, happy to see there was at least a little venom in the snake she was poking. "So, Misato." She turned her attention away from Shinji, causing his expression to grow even more agitated.

"Yeah, Asuka?"

"So are we taking Unit 02 to NERV Headquarters or what?"

Katsuragi nodded. "Yeah, we just need the Captain to sign Unit 02 over to us."

Misato's words fell empty onto the young woman, as she was still focused on Shinji. She was expecting for him to snap at her again, or maybe even yell and scream at her. However, nothing came to be. All he did was keep a stern glare zeroed in on her. She figured either he was spineless or he was just a hard tower to topple. Either way, she couldn't help but find him a bit interesting, albeit a little bit boring.

XXXXXXXXXX

Negotiations didn't seem to be going as smoothly as expected. Misato urged once more for the Captain to sign over the EVA Unit so they could get it to NERV HQ as soon as possible, however the stubborn, elderly man seemed to be having none of it.

"Captain Katsuragi," The plump man huffed. "We were tasked by the Third Branch in Germany to deliver this EVA Unit to Japan. We will not be handing it over until we arrive out our destination."

Misato nodded and folded the release forms under her right arm. "I understand." She said with a smile. "However, I should remind you that in the state of an emergency, NERV's military authority overrides your own."

The Captain pursed his lips and snarled under his breath. Shinji was slightly surprised by Misato's ruthlessness in terms of diplomacy. He expected something like this from Ritsuko, but Misato? He just didn't think she had enough of a mean streak in her to do something like that.

"Well," A voice spoke up from the entrance to the bridge. "You're just as confident as always."

The group turned towards the door, catching a tall and slender man in a dress shirt and tie entering the room. His hair went almost half way down his back and was tied back in a ponytail. His face looked like that of a prototypical pretty boy, save for the five o' clock shadow.

"Kaji!" Asuka squealed at the top of her lungs as she waved at the man entering the room. Kaji had been her mentor since she was only eight years old, and she always carried a schoolgirl crush for him. Although he found it flattering at first, Kaji had begun to wish she'd grow out of it.

Misato felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing the name. She didn't want to turn, but by forces of which she could not comprehend, she was unable to stop herself from turning around. She felt a pit in her stomach upon seeing the man, like she wanted to throw up. However judging by Kaji's expression, his feelings about seeing her were the exact opposite.

"It's good to see you again, Misato." The handsome man greeted with a sly wink, ignoring the Fleet Captain's request for him to leave the bridge.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm here on official NERV business." She replied flatly.

"Well I expected as mu-" Before he could get another word out, the young German girl leapt onto him, tightly latching her arms around him.

"Kaji!" She screamed in excitement yet again. "I didn't expect to see _you_ here!" Though she couldn't see it, Kaji awkwardly began scratching the back of his head, trying to brush off the teenager. "I thought you left already?"

"Well…" After another light push, the girl's arms loosened and she stepped back. "I heard Misat.." He stopped himself. "Excuse me_, Captain Katsuragi _was on board, so I just _had_ to come and see her."

Asuka's face started to turn a little pouty at his words, causing Shinji to let out a light chuckle. His laughter was quickly met by her venomous glare, bringing him to silence.

XXXXXXXXXX

Misato rolled her eyes as Kaji tapped her foot from under the table with his own. At first she thought having to wait a day for the carrier to arrive in Japan was going to be nothing more than an inconvenience. Now that Kaji was here though, it had become a dreaded waiting game.

Asuka was sitting next to him, but had quickly realized that Kaji was not paying attention to her, despite her best efforts to gain it. She looked around the table, trying to find something to bide her time. Misato was too busy ignoring Kaji, and she felt that the two boys sitting across from her were far too idiotic to even attempt to humor her. That just left the Third Child sitting next to her.

She looked over him as he ate his lunch, trying to see what it was that was so special about him. He was scrawny, radiated an aura of social awkwardness, and looked to be the living personification of the word 'strange'. However, he did seem to be more intelligent than the other two boys, and Asuka didn't feel like listening to Kaji swoon over Misato, so her options were pretty limited.

"So, Third Child," She spoke, still refusing to call him by his name. He had yet to earn that right with her. "why are you so quiet?" She asked as he brought his eyes up to her. "I mean if you've actually fought Angels, shouldn't you have a bunch of amazing stories you'd want to tell a pretty girl like me?"

Shinji remained quiet, trying to gauge her. Was she hitting on him? No, not a chance. If anything she was probably making fun of him. Although there was perhaps a small possibility that she was just genuinely interested in hearing what he had to say. Though that seemed unlikely, the young EVA pilot settled on that.

"Well," He started. "it's kinda scary to fight an Angel, honestly.

Asuka snickered. "Really?" Her tone was none too subtle with her distaste. "You're inside of an EVA, the greatest technological marvel in history, and _you're_ scared of a few Angels? What type of EVA pilot are you?!"

"Hey!"

The redhead let a sly smile cross her face. There was that hiss again. Maybe this snake _could_ bite.

"You asked what its like fighting Angels, and I answered you. I wasn't looking to get berated for it!"

"You're right." She replied with a shrug. "I guess I should've expected an answer like that from a sub-par pilot like yourself." She braced herself for the bite. She knew if she hit him in the pride then he'd have to strike. Alas, there was no retort, no lash, no nothing.

She didn't know why she found herself so disappointed. She should've expected the same thing to happen here as what happened on the deck. He may have seemed like someone who would have a mean streak in them, but it didn't seem that there were any fangs to hold his venom.

"So, Shinji." Kaji's voice spoke in his direction, seeing that him and Asuka were done talking.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You're living with Misato, right?"

Misato narrowed her eyes at Kaji, wondering where he was going with this.

"Yeah." Shinji answered.

"Then tell me something." The older man made a slight grin. "Is she still wild in bed?"

Everyone sitting at the table went wide-eyed at the question, especially Misato. Asuka also seemed to be quite repulsed by the statement, feeling sick over the idea of her crush sleeping with another woman besides herself.

"What are you implying by that!?" Misato exclaimed, slamming her hands onto the table, causing all of the plates and cups to shake.

Kaji smirked, not even looking Misato in the eyes. "I guess not. Huh, Shinji?"

The teen took a second to collect himself, brushing off Kaji's comment from before. "I guess not." He answered. "But um… How do you know my name?"

"Everyone knows your name, Shinji." He replied, subconsciously tapping his index finger on the table. "You're pretty popular in the defense business, ya know."

Shinji raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised by his words. "I… I am?"

"Of course you are. You're the famous Third Child. The one who piloted an EVA _and_ killed an Angel on their first mission with absolutely no training whatsoever."

Shinji couldn't help but chuckle and scratch the back of his head, seeming almost embarrassed.

Asuka began narrowing her eyes and furrowing her brow. She had finally figured out why he was so quiet and would hardly ever respond to her teases. Why she could try to press his buttons, and the best reaction she'd ever get from him would be nothing more than a momentary snap.

He was modest.

"It was all luck, really."

She could feel her fist clench. Modest people irritated her. They carried so much potential, yet always strayed away from using it to their full abilities. Here this kid is with not one, not two, but three confirmed Angel kills under his belt, and all he can do is claim it was luck?

She felt like she wanted to puke.

As Kaji stood up from the table, she felt a sense of relief fill her. If she had to sit next to Shinji any longer, then she might've started to strangle him. As Kaji bid is adieu to the group, she shot up from her seat without a word, following him out the door.

XXXXXXXXXX

Asuka leaned against the railing of the ship, letting her feet dangle over the edge as she held herself up on the rails. While Kaji sat down on the stairs, smoking a cigarette, occasionally glancing over at the young girl just to make sure she wouldn't fall over the edge.

"So whaddya think of Shinji?"

The redhead scoffed out of sheer gut reaction. "He's _so_ boring."

The older gentlemen made a slight grin, looking over at the girl. "Oh is that so?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "He's got the personality of a brick."

Kaji put out his cigarette out on the metal steps. "I wouldn't go that far." He chuckled. "He may be quiet, but he wasn't raised to be a pilot like you were. This entire world is pretty alien to him. I'd be surprised if he wasn't at least little bit shy."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "I just better not have to baby him."

She was met by a laugh from Kaji. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

She stopped swinging her feet from the side of the ship, and planted them on the deck. "Why's that?"

"During his first mission he was able to reach a sync rate of forty percent without a plugsuit _or_ training."

"Mein Gott!" She quickly turned around, facing her mentor. "You're lying!"

"I cross my heart." He smiled. "I can show you the reports if you don't believe me."

Asuka was finding more and more reasons to hate the Third Child. He was boring, modest, and in terms of statistics a much better pilot than her. She wasn't able to reach a sync rate of forty percent until after three months of training, but he was able to reach it just by sitting in the cockpit? It wasn't just that he had to find a way to grate every single one of her pet peeves, but he also had to hit her in the pride as well.

After sitting in silence for a brief moment, Asuka pealed herself away from the rail and began making her way into the ship.

"Where're you heading to?" Kaji asked, whilst remaining seated on the step.

"To show that Third Child what a real EVA is!" Kaji could feel the heat radiate from her words. The only time she got like this was when she had something to prove, and the only time she'd ever try to prove something to someone was when she was seeking their praise. Despite her temperament, he knew she must've had some sort of mutual respect for Shinji if she was looking for praise from him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji leaned back against the railing of the escalator as they ascended upwards towards the guest barracks. Kensuke had yet to put down his camera, taping anything and everything around him, and Touji had yet to break his sight from Misato, or Misato's rear end more specifically. This all went completely unnoticed by Captain Katsuragi as she was too busy venting her frustration about her ex.

"Can you believe that jerk?!" She snarled.

"Sure can't." Shinji replied.

"I mean what type of person brings up something like that?! God, he infuriates me!"

"I bet."

"Sometimes I just want to grab him by his throat, and just strangle him!" The lavender haired woman simulated the motion as she choked the air in front of her.

"Mhmm."

"Are you even listening to me?!"

"Just crazy. Hu…" Shinji stopped himself and went wide eyed as he met with his guardian's glare. "Sorry, Misato. I… I…"

He expected for Katsuragi to begin to unleash her fury on him, but instead her livid expression seemed to slowly morph into that of a school girl who just learned a big secret. "Oh, I know what it is." Shinji didn't like the sound of her overly cutesy tone. "You're thinking about Asuka, aren't you?" She giggled as she pointed a finger at him teasingly.

"Wha…" He stopped himself, trying to bounce back with a retort. "No!" He yelped meekly.

"Uh huh." She winked and nudged her elbow up against him. "_Sure_ you're not."

Shinji rolled his eyes. "It's not like that."

"Oh, then what is it then?"

She was right in the assumption that Shinji was thinking about the loud mouthed Second Child. However her assumption that he was infatuated by her couldn't have been any farther from the truth. "She's well…" He stopped, knowing he was about to call her something that would contradict his soft demeanor. "She's really irritable."

"But at least she talked to you."

The young pilot cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"She doesn't _ever_ start a conversation with someone unless she at least tolerates them. She talked to you not twenty minutes after meeting you, so it looks like she's taken quite a liking to you already!"

"Really?" He replied. "Coulda fooled me."

"Hey, Third Child!"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Shinji looked up at the top of the escalator to see that the redheaded German girl was standing at the top of the escalator, glairing down at him.

"You're coming with me!"

Without the slightest bit of delay, Shinji was met by 'Oooo's' from Touji and Kensuke. He also heard Touji make a snide comment, but he didn't catch exactly what it was. Even Misato was giggling under her breath in a manner that said 'I told you so'.

"Uh…" Shinji couldn't fully respond by the time She snagged his hand and pulled him along with her down the hallway in the opposite direction of the barracks. The young pilot looked back to see the group waving at him and making mocking faces at him. He wanted to escape her grasp and go with them, but it looked like he didn't have much of a choice. "Okay."

"So I heard you have a sync score of forty percent." Her tone was more accusatory than anything else.

"Actually," Before he corrected her, she turned her head towards him with a stern expression, as if daring him to tell her it was higher. Despite his gut feeling that he should just remain quiet, he corrected her anyways. "that was my initial sync rate. Now its around fifty percent." If she was going to press his buttons, he didn't see a reason why he couldn't press hers as well.

"Hmph." Asuka turned her head back. "That's okay, I guess." She said in a snooty tone. "_Mine_ is fifty-five percent." After her little boast, She looked down and saw that her hand was still wrapped around his. "Hey! Let go of my hand, you pervert!" She snarled, pulling her hand away from him.

"You're the one who grabbed it!"

"And you're the one who hung on!"

Shinji tried to comprehend her behavior, but found that he was just getting a headache from trying to do so. "Ya know what, I'm just going to the barracks." He said as he turned around, heading down to other end of the hallway, leaving Asuka to stand by herself with a near dumbfounded expression on her face.

"No, wait!" She screamed, chasing after him.

The teen turned back around to see the girl looking at him with near pleading eyes. He found himself a bit taken back by the sudden jarring change. Within quite literally the blink of an eye she went from being overly hostile and condescending to nearly saddened.

Shinji knew going with her had to be a bad idea. However his teenage hormones let her pretty face and sad eyes get the better of him. "Fine." He sighed. "But can you quit being so mean?"

"Of course." She replied near happily. "How about we just start fresh?"

"Uh… Sure." He shrugged. "I guess?"

"Good!" The redhead seemed to be considerably simmered down compared to earlier. "I'm Asuka, Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed, huh?" She extended her hand, as though to make a peace offering.

"I'm Shinji. Shinji Ikari." He spoke as he also extended his hand as well, shaking hers.

"Nice to meet you, Third Chi-… I mean, Shinji." Ikari raised his brow. He couldn't believe that he was semi-flattered just because she actually referred to him by his name. "I'll lead the way." Asuka finished as she turned around and continued down the hall, Shinji following closely behind.

XXXXXXXXXX

'Well, she didn't lie.' Shinji thought. Asuka had indeed refrained from being overly hostile and condescending, but was instead being overly passive aggressive and condescending. It seemed to be a step in the right direction at least, though he didn't expect for her demeanor to change much more for the better anytime soon.

The entire helicopter ride to the transport vessel was filled with her spouting out technical terms and dropping all sorts of knowledge about how Germany constructed a large portion of the ships in the fleet, and how they were so much better than any other Navy vessel because of it.

Once they touched down onto the transport vessel, Shinji thought about asking once again what it was she was taking him to see, but he figured her answer would probably be the same as before "You'll see when we get there, idiot."

Without a doubt this girl was beyond confusing. If anything, she was downright mind boggling. It seemed like she was trying to be nice to him, but whenever he said anything, she would almost always reply with an offhanded remark that was either condescending or meant to irritate him.

"I should've gone back to the barracks." He whispered to himself.

"What was that?" Asuka asked as she headed towards a very large tarp atop the deck.

"Nothing." He sighed

The Second Child shrugged, then grasped onto the tarp. "Well anyways, take a look at this!" As she pulled a piece of the tarp back, Shinji crouched down and looked inside.

"Huh…" He let out. "I didn't know they made them in that color."

A smirk crossed Asuka's face. "That's not _all_ that's different about it." She lifted the tarp a little more and entered, waving for Shinji to follow her inside.

Under the tarp was a red forty meter humanoid robot laying down inside of a giant pool. Though it was similar in design to Shinji's EVA Unit, there were quite a few differences in ascetics besides just the color. The biggest being in the facial design. Unit 01's head was much more angular and jagged, almost giving it a semi-reptilian look to it. Unit 02's was much more humanoid and round in shape, while also sporting four eyes instead of two.

As Shinji observed the EVA, he could hear the sound of grunting coming from Asuka. He looked up and saw that she was beginning to climb atop the EVA Unit, struggling to climb up it due to her dress proving to be a poor clothing choice for such activities.

"What're you doing?" Shinji asked, cocking his head.

"EVA…" She groaned as she pulled herself atop of the robot's chest, standing triumphantly over Shinji. "EVA Unit 00 and 01 are nothing more than mere beta tests compared to this." She stopped for a second to catch her breath. "As seen by such high sync scores with inexperienced pilots like you." Shinji wanted to say something, but instead let her continue on her little rant. He wasn't sure why though, maybe it was because he found her exuberance to be cute in a way. "However, Unit 02 is different. This is a true Evangelion! The first on Earth built for actual combat!"

"Is it now?" Shinji scanned his eyes up and down the mech. It was impressive, but he couldn't quite tell what was so special about it compared to Unit 00 and 01.

Before he could say anything else, a sudden tremble shot across the boat, causing Shinji and Asuka to nearly lose their footing on the already shaky waters the EVA was floating in.

"Ah!" Asuka yelped. "What was that?" As the trembling continued, she realized that she'd trip if she stayed atop the EVA any longer, prompting her to quickly slide down the side of its slick metal frame, landing square in front of Shinji.

"I don't know." He replied. "Let's go check it out."

The two teens dashed out from under the tarp, and leaned against the railing of the ship. Off in the distance a large wave seemed to be rushing towards a nearby Destroyer.

"Look!" Asuka exclaimed as the wave made contact with the large ship, causing it to capsize as its hull was severely ripped from the belly. The wave then traversed to another nearby ship, doing the very same to it as well.

"It can't be!" Shinji could feel his heart begin to race. "It's an Angel!"

Asuka's heart began to race as well, though for a completely different reason. "An Angel? A real one?" She could feel a presence behind her under the tarp, almost as if Unit 02 was beckoning her. Now was her chance. Not only to take down her first Angel, but to prove to Shinji how good her piloting skills really were. "Wunderbar."

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji leaned his head against the wall as he waited for Asuka to change into her plugsuit. He knew this was going to be a bad idea, but he also knew that there was no other way to fight the Angel. He could hear rustling going on underneath him. He didn't have to guess to know what it was. It was her fighting to get the suit on. He was more than familiar with how difficult those things were to put on.

It had been a while though, so he slowly got up and peaked his head around the stairwell to see how progress was going. However he quickly realized he shouldn't have done that when he was met by Asuka's verbal assault. At least she yelled at him in German, so at then Shinji couldn't tell exactly what foul things she was calling him.

After another thirty seconds or so, the redhead finally emerged from underneath. As soon as Shinji saw her, he had to quickly avert his eyes to hide his blush. Her red plugsuit hugged every single curve on her body. He almost completely forgot about how ugly her temperament was after getting lost in her prettiness.

At first she glared at him, still angry about him peeping on her, but she had bigger things to worry about than that. "C'mon, let's go!"

Shinji nodded and followed her back to the EVA. As they approached the cockpit, Asuka turned around and handed him what looked to be a spare plugsuit. Shinji looked up at her, confused as to what exactly she wanted him to do with it.

"Well, put it on!" She snapped.

"But it's…"

"Don't just stand there! Get moving!"

The boy looked down at the suit he was holding. It was quite clearly designed specifically for Asuka's body type, or at the very least that of a young female. He tried to verbally protest, but he was met by another barrage of Asuka cursing at him in German.

"Okay, okay!" He replied as he went around a corner to quickly change. As he fought to put on the unfitting plugsuit, he couldn't help but wonder why she wanted him to tag along with her, and even questioned why he was following her commands like an obedient puppy in the first place.

"Hurry up!" She barked.

Once on, he hit a button on the wrist, expelling all excess air in the suit, causing it to retract. The design of the chest cavities left a bit of a gap between his torso and the suit, while the lack thereof of a cavity in the groin area caused him to wince in pain as it closed in.

Embarrassed, The pilot stepped out from around the corner, expecting to be met by a wall of laughter from Asuka. Surprisingly enough though, she remained serious and if anything paid absolutely no mind to his suit.

"So what exactly do I need the plugsuit for?" He asked, trying to hide the quite noticeable bulge in his suit.

"Are you dense?!" Asuka snapped. "We're going to pilot Unit 02 and kill that Angel!"

"We?" He raised an eyebrow. "As in both of us?"

"Duh!" The Second Child rolled her eyes, hitting the switch to open up the entryplug. As she entered the EVA, Shinji followed closely behind. "Get ready for an amazing display of piloting." She boasted. "Just don't bug me, okay?" The entry plug sealed shut, and a series of lights began to flicker around the two while Asuka commenced with the startup process. "LCL Füllung. Anfang der Bewegung. Bestätigt. Anfang des Nervenanschlusses. Bestätigt. Auslöses von Links-kleidung. Bestätigt. Synchro-start!" The lights around the two began to flicker again for a moment, before a red light came onto the screen reading 'FEHLER' while a low beep rang with the blinking message.

"It's a program error!" Shinji exclaimed.

"It's thought noise." Asuka huffed. "I told you not to disturb me!"

"B..but what did I do?"

"You're thinking in Japanese, aren't you?" The redhead glared at him. "If you have to think, can't you at least do it in German?!" Before Shinji could embarrass himself by even attempting such an impossible task, she let out a sigh. "Forget it. Switch language to Japanese." The lights around the two readjusted once more, this time appropriately and without an error message. "Evangelion Unit, go!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Dear God!" The Captain's eyes went wide. "Evangelion Unit 02 is activating!"

Katsuragi's eyes went wide as well, but her expression was vastly different than his. "Yes! Go Asuka, go!"

The Captain quickly picked up the radio, not about to allow for his cargo to place itself in danger. "Pilot of Unit 02, I demand that you shut down that EVA Unit right now!"

Misato snagged the microphone out of his hand. "Ignore that command, Asuka! Kill that Angel!"

Aboard Unit 02, Asuka couldn't help but smirk at Misato as she brought the EVA to life. The red mecha raised itself up, pulling the tarp along with it. As it stood, the transport vessel began to waver under the weight of the EVA Unit.

"Careful Asuka." Shinji murmured. "If this thing falls into the water, we're done for." He then looked over at the countdown timer for the battery life. "And we only have a minute before shutdown!"

"I know that!" She snapped. "Stupid Shinji."

"I remember seeing an umbilical cable on the aircraft carrier, but how are we going to get there?"

"Simple." The redhead made a devilish grin. "Like hopscotch."

"Hopsco-" Before Shinji could get the words out of his mouth, the red EVA Unit leapt forward, the tarp still wrapped around it like a cloak. As soon as it left the deck of the ship, the raging wave crashed into the transport vessel, sinking it instantly.

"Glad you came aboard the EVA with me now?" Asuka spoke as the Unit planted its feet atop a small Destroyer, causing the wooden deck to crack, and the boat to tilt side to side. With another great leap, the tarp flew off, exposing the entire EVA as it soared across the sky, hopping from ship to ship as it made its way towards the carrier.

"Look out!" Shinji yelped, pointing towards the small ship Unit 02 was about to land on. Asuka looked down and saw that the rushing wave was about to crash into the ship before she could land on it. As the wave ripped the boat in half down the middle, Asuka tried to plant the mecha's feet onto both chunks of the ship, using them to spring herself onto the next one.

The young pilot of Unit 01 hated to admit it, but her skills were really good. No, phenomenal. She and her EVA moved as if one, its movements fluid and precise as she planted her feet on each ship. However as the timer started to reach the last twenty seconds, Shinji was unsure if they could make it to the carrier in time.

"Hang on!" She growled as her hands tightened on the controls. "Here we go!" With one large pounce from a cargo ship, the EVA ripped across the sky, traveling at least four hundred meters. "This is gonna be close!" Asuka bit down on her lower lip, watching the EVA's feet come closer and closer to the carrier. As the Unit came crashing down, its giant red feet slammed square onto the deck with only a few seconds remaining on the battery. Upon landing, the giant ship tilted to the side, causing for most of the jets onboard to fall into the ocean. The Captain grimaced each time one of the expensive pieces of aircraft fell into the water, but all of their value combined was like change in the jar compared to Unit 02.

"Whew." Shinji sighed in relief. "That was close."

"It's not over yet." She said calmly as she reached for the cable that had been readied for her. "Switching to external power." She announced as the plug latched into place on the EVA's back. Once in, she looked out towards the sea, catching sight of the wave charging closer to the aircraft carrier.

"How are we going to fight it?" Shinji asked as he leaned forward. "We don't have any guns."

"The progressive knife should do just fine." With that, the left shoulder pylon opened up to reveal the state-of-the-art blade. Unit 02 reached up and brandished the knife as it readied for the incoming opponent.

The Angel began to surface, exposing its upper half to them. It looked something along the lines of a twisted fusion of a whale and a manta-ray, only bigger. Once it was within a close proximity of the ship, it shot out of the water, revealing itself to be roughly the same length of the carrier as it slammed its gargantuan body onto the deck.

The monster landed hard, causing Asuka to drop the knife, slicing a Su-33 in half. She knew that her only way to stop it now was to hold it in place on the ship where she could at least fight it with a terrain advantage.

However its enormous size made it near impossible to hold as it squirmed atop the deck, pushing EVA Unit 02 closer and closer to the edge. With one more push from the Angel, Unit 02's feet slid back to an edge where the supporting was not quite as strong, causing it to collapse the second the EVA's weight was put on it.

Keeping her grip tight, Asuka drug the giant fish down with her into the ocean. However in hindsight this was a bad idea, because now they were fighting it in its own territory. The massive Angel began rushing through the colossally deep waters of the ocean, dragging Asuka and Shinji into a long forgotten city that had been sunken by Second Impact.

The umbilical cable stayed latched onto the EVA, causing the line on the ship to reel out like a fishing rod as the Angel continued in its violent struggle to get Unit 02 off of it. It ripped through building after building, trying its best to remove the EVA, however its grip remained strong.

"Asuka, you're about to run out of cable!" Misato's voice filled the entryplug. "Brace for impact!" A few seconds went by as the Angel continued on its vicious struggle, then with one violent snag, the cable line ran out, jerking Unit 02 back and causing it to loosen its grip on the monster.

"Damn!" Asuka growled. "I can't move!"

"That's because we're using B-Type Equipment!" Shinji reminded.

"Well then do something!"

"Me?" He leaned forward, trying to get a good look at the Angel as it began to turn and swim towards the sunken EVA. "_You're_ the one who wanted to fight this thing in the ocean!"

"Well you're the famous Third Child!" She snapped. "So hurry up and do someth-…" She looked down and realized that he was leaning over her lap. "Get off of me, you pervert!"

The Angel started to pick up speed, growing closer as it opened its wide jaws, revealing a red orb inside of its mouth. Shinji and Asuka gasped as its massive teeth clamped down onto Unit 02, pinning the upper torso inside of its mouth.

"What're we going to do?!" Shinji exclaimed as Asuka made a desperate struggle to pry open the monster's jaws. It's strength was just too much though. They remained steadily sealed and showed no signs of giving way.

"Asuka! Shinji!" Misato's voice rang through the plug once more. "I've got an idea, but you need to get its mouth open!"

"Easier said than done, Misato!" The feisty redhead shouted as she jerked at the controls once more.

"Well get Shinji to help." She suggested. "We're going to reel you in now, so just get those Jaws open and we'll take care of the rest!" Once the radio cut off, Asuka looked over at the pilot of Unit 01.

"Well don't just stand there, take the controls!" She barked as she pulled back on the handles, causing them to open up and fold back to allow her a little more leverage. Shinji nodded and leaned back over her lap once again as he took both controls in hand.

Once the cable began reeling back, Unit 02 was able to plant its feet onto the lip of the Angel, giving it even more leverage. However it was still proving to be insufficient. "Damn it!" Shinji roared, gritting his teeth as he tried pulling back on the controls. "It's not budging!"

"You guys have got to get it open, now!" Misato shouted over the radio.

"We're working on it!" Asuka snapped. It was impossible for either of them to get the grip they needed with two hands on each lever, but individually they'd never have enough strength to pry open the great maw. "Damn you, just open!" The redhead exclaimed as she readjusted her hands on the levers. She placed her hands over Shinji's locking her fingers between his, and pulled as hard as she could.

Then like a godsend, the levers moved back.

Unit 02's eyes lit up as it started to pull apart the great mouth of the beast, exposing its core to the dangers that awaited it. Once its mouth was fully open, two sunken Destroyers zoomed by Unit 02. Each one smashing the Angel's teeth into bits as they worked their way into its mouth. Followed by this was a loud bang as their cannons fired inside its mouth, destroying the core inside.

"Oh my Go- Before Asuka could get the words out of her mouth, the explosion inside of the Angel caused its body to expand and stretch more and more until it burst. Unit 02 flew back from the force of the explosion, sending it rocketing to the surface, and detaching it from the umbilical cable. Using the last bit of power it had, Unit 02 landed hard atop the deck of the carrier, managing to stabilize itself before running out of battery power and shutting down.

"Heilig shiest!" Asuka exhaled as the LCL drained from the pod. "Not bad… for a… amateur pilot." She praised between breaths.

"Not bad… for a…"

"Don't even think… about saying something… you'll regret." She could barely get the last few words out.

Shinji couldn't protest,. He was just too exhausted. Instead he simply gave her a nod, and then fell limp in her lap.

"Hey!" She yelled. "Get… off of…." She took in another breath, finding she didn't have enough energy to even bother with her insistent yelling. "Ya know what? Fine. Just stay there." After taking in a few more deep breaths, she fell back into her seat and went limp as well.

XXXXXXXXXX

The school bell rang as Shinji opened the door to the classroom. It was his first day back since him and Asuka killed the Angel, however it felt like it had been much longer. He hadn't been able to see the fiery redheaded pilot since making landfall, but he found that may have been for the better. She may not have been as bad as he had initially thought, but she was still far too overly hostile for his taste.

"Hey Shinji!" Touji called as he entered the classroom. "What's going on?"

"Oh, hey Touji." He replied as he approached him and Kensuke.

"Have you seen what's her face since we got back?"

Shinji shook his head. "Can't say I have."

"Good." His tone was harsh. "She may have looked cute, but she was a total bitch.

Kensuke shrugged. "Well at least we won't have to see her again, so you can probably let it go."

"Yeah," he huffed. "But Mr. Big Shot here has to work with her everyday." He said as he motioned towards Shinji. "Man do I feel sorry for you.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

The classroom door opened up as a student walked in. The three directed their eyes towards the door, and they all felt a pit form in their stomach upon seeing the student. There she stood at the chalkboard, writing out her full name in perfect cursive. She turned around, revealing her slender face and her auburn hair. From atop her head, two red A10 clips could be seen peaking out.

"No way." Shinji muttered as she introduced herself to the class.

"I'm Asuka." She spoke. "Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed, huh?"


	2. 01

Asuka reached up to her locker and pulled it open, causing for a sea of envelopes to pour out onto her feet. Her expression remained blank as she took a deep breath before looking down at the mess scattered around her feet. All of the envelopes had some sort of heart shaped sticker on them, or at the very least some cheesy message meant to woo her.

"This is getting irritating." She murmured, stomping down on the pile of love letters. So was the downside of popularity though, being forced to deal with endless waves of boys that wanted to have a shot at her. It was at times like this she almost wished that she could be like Shinji and just vanish into a crowd. It astonished her how someone who was known as an EVA pilot could possibly go as unnoticed as he did. But then again she enjoyed the perks of being popular far more than its downsides, so she couldn't complain.

"Looks like you've got a secret admirer…" Shinji spoke as he opened up his locker a few doors down from her's. "Or twenty."

"Consider yourself lucky to be working with someone like myself." She huffed. "I've been here only two days, and already every boy in school wants me."

"If they could see past your looks, they might think differently." He murmured, not meaning for Asuka to hear it.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought." She kept her eyes focused on Shinji, glairing at him as he grabbed his lunch. Once he closed his locker, she called out to him. "So is the other one here too?"

"The other one?" Shinji tilted his head.

"What are you, stupid?" She scoffed. "The First Child!"

Shinji made a 'O' shape with his mouth before answering. "Rei? Yeah. Why?"

"Just wondering." As Shinji walked off, she began to wonder if Rei was as boring as he was. She couldn't imagine that'd be the case, as she found Shinji to be as entertaining as a rock. Although she had to admit that he did have a sense of mystery to him. His quiet nature always made her wonder what it was he was truly thinking about. However she had since come to the conclusion that his thoughts were probably just as boring as he presented himself to be.

After closing her locker, she made her way outside, leaving the love letters to be swept up by the janitor. She took in a deep breath of fresh air as she stepped through the doors. It seemed everyone had congregated to the gate for lunch. She honestly couldn't blame them, especially on a day this nice. Thinking about it though, she figured she should've opted for the roof, where she wouldn't have to be swarmed with boys she'd have to shoo off.

Off in the distance she spotted a lone blue haired girl eating her lunch. The redhead narrowed her eyes and then reached into her pocket to pull out a picture Kaji had given her of the First Child before her arrival. She looked at the photo and then at the girl. It was indeed Rei Ayanami, and judging by her being completely alone, it seemed that she had done an even better job of staying invisible than Shinji did.

"Hey, Rei Ayanami!" She called out, causing the crimson eyed girl to do little more than glance her way.

"Yes?"

"You're the First Child, the pilot of EVA Unit 00, right?"

"Yes." She replied. "And you are the Second Child, and pilot of Unit 02, correct?"

"You better believe I am!" She proudly exclaimed. "Why don't we be friends, I mean us girls have to stick together, right?"

Rei simply looked away from her and spoke in a voice that barely qualified as more than a whisper. "I will if I am commanded to."

Asuka raised an eyebrow, and gave her a perplexed look. "What?"

Rei repeated herself, only a little bit louder. "I will if I am commanded to."

"What a freak." Asuka mumbled to herself. "Ya know what," She flicked her wrist back as she turned away. "Just keep doing your thing, Wondergirl." Brushing off her strange introduction to the First Child, she started making her way to the other side of the gate to sit with Hikari, the class rep. After getting about halfway across the yard, a strange noise began to sound, blaring through her ears.

"An Angel attack!" Shinji exclaimed as he shot up from the circle he had formed with Touji and Kensuke.

"An Angel attack?!" Asuka's heart started to race. "You mean there's one attacking the city right now?!"

"Yes! Let's go!"

The redhead could barely contain her excitement as she squealed with glee. She had been waiting for her big debut mission. However she didn't expect for it to come this soon. Accepting the pleasant surprise, she followed Shinji as he dashed out of the front gate, making his way to NERV Headquarters, Rei right behind her.

XXXXXXXXXX

"This sucks!" Asuka groaned as she sat in her EVA being airlifted to the location of the Angel. "Its my first mission and I have to go on it with _you_." She looked over to the other EVA Unit being airlifted. Its purple and green frame certainly gave it a very distinct look, as did its long and angular face, but Asuka knew that in terms of technology Unit 02 was superior. Though not as superior as she led on to believe.

"Don't blame me, Asuka." Shinji replied. "It's just procedure." He chuckled.

"Hmph." She crossed her arms. "Just don't get in my way!"

"Cut it out, Asuka." Misato's voice rang through her ears. "You two will engage the target as a team. One will cover while the other will attack, and you _will_ switch up the roles if necessary."

The redhead snickered. "We'll see how much teamwork we need once that Angel shows up." She felt the latches around Unit 02 loosen as the restraints let go of both EVA Units, letting them freefall onto the beach. They had five minutes of power, which Asuka knew would be far more than enough to take down the Angel. Once they landed onto the soft sand, she brandished her spear while Shinji cocked his assault rifle.

"Get ready, you two." Misato spoke cautiously as the two awaited for the Angel to rise from the water. At first it was just a few small waves, and then a violent splash as the monstrosity revealed itself to them. The Angel's form reminded Shinji if the first Angel he ever fought. However this one's arms were much longer and hung around its knees, while its legs were much shorter and stubbier.

"Oh this is going to be so easy." Asuka rolled her eyes. "I've got this one!" She declared, charging forward.

"Hey!" Shinji shouted. "Watch out, you dumb rookie!" Being unable to stop her, he was forced to do nothing but lay suppressing fire onto the beast.

"What's wrong Shinji?" Her accent was slipping through. "Are you worried about me?"

"Don't flatter yourself."

Asuka frowned. "Pity." She sighed. "I'm charging in!"

Shinji's eyes went wide. "Wait, what?!" Before he could make anymore protests, the red EVA Unit dashed forward, hopping atop of a partially sunken building, and then leaping into the air over the Angel. Then with one swift motion she brought down the blade of the spear, slicing through the center of the Angel with perfect form.

"Ha!" She laughed. "How's that for ya, Stupid Shinji?"

Unit 01 lowered its weapon while Shinji looking on in awe. "Well I'll be damned." He couldn't believe it. Perhaps she really was as good as she said she was. It brought a bit of dissatisfaction to him though to not get see Asuka get her ass handed to her so she could learn why you shouldn't refrain from following commands.

"Asuka, look out!" Misato's voice echoed through her cockpit.

The pilot of Unit 02 turned around and saw the two pieces of the Angel begin to morph. It looked as though arms and legs had begun sprouting from both severed halves and they were beginning to transform into two completely separate beings.

"No way." She gasped as they both took full form and came in for the attack. Shinji tried laying down suppressing fire, but it was too little too late. Just before Asuka went down, Shinji actually began to regret wishing for her to get beaten down by the Angel.

XXXXXXXXXX

The darkened room was faintly lit up as the projector came to life. Shinji and Asuka both tilted their heads down, looking at the floor as the slideshow started. They felt they needn't be reminded about the catastrophe that was their most recent mission.

"At 10:58 AM, Unit 01 was attacked by one of the targets, Alpha, which had separated from the other target…."

'Wonderful.' Both of them thought. Averting their eyes from the slideshow wasn't going to keep them from being forced to relive the most disastrous sortie in the history of the Evangelion Project. It especially didn't help for Asuka to have Kaji sitting right behind her. As the presenter continued, both the Second and the Third Child started murmuring to themselves about the reason for the mission being such a catastrophic failure.

"It's all Asuka's fault." Shinji grumbled.

"It's all Shinji's fault." Asuka growled.

Both of them looked up at the screen to see pictures of their respective EVAs sticking feet up while the rest of their bodies were either buried under dirt in Asuka's case, or submerged underwater in Shinji's.

As the presenter continued on, Auka felt her fists begin to clench. This was so embarrassing. This was not how her first mission was supposed to be. She was supposed to enter with glory and elegance, not disaster and failure.

"This is all your fault!" She exclaimed, shooting out of her chair, pointing an accusatory finger at her partner.

"My fault?!" He looked more baffled than anything. "How is any of this _my_ fault?" He stood up from his chair as well. "You're the one who didn't follow orders!"

"Well you could've at least helped me when they broke apart instead of just standing there!"

"I was laying suppressing fire!"

"I'll suppress you, you little bra-"

"Enough!" Vice Commander Fuyutsuki roared. "I will not sit here and let you two children bicker over such trivial things." Both teens turned to him, and remained dead silent as he spoke. "We were lucky that the UN was able to at least send the Angel into retreat, but heed my words it _will _be back." Fuyutsuki was not the type of person to get angry. If anything, he had a much calmer demeanor than even Commander Ikari. To see him like this was quite unsettling. "When it does come back, you both _will_ work as a team, and you _will_ destroy it." He glared at both of them, especially at Asuka, because even he knew that she was the root of why the mission was a failure. "Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." They replied together.

"Good." He sat back down in his chair. "You two are dismissed. Captain Katsuragi will give you further instruction from here."

Both Asuka and Shinji sighed once the Vice Commander's eyes were off of them. It felt like he had just drained all their energy away by doing so little as looking at them. Both pilots slowly trudged out of the room, leaving the adults to discuss this further.

As the door closed shut behind them, Asuka leaned her arm against the wall and rested her head on her forearm. "Mein Gott, that was awful."

"You're telling me." The Third Child sighed, leaning back against the other wall.

"Shut up, Shinji." It came out more like a whimper than a snap.

Shinji merely shook his head and looked up to the ceiling. They both remained motionless for about a minute, neither one of them looking at the other. Shinji kept his eyes up at the ceiling, while Asuka kept hers directed at the wall.

After a bit they both began to feel heavy, as though the silence was weighing them down. It must've grown too heavy for Asuka, as she pulled herself back from the wall and made her way down the corridor without saying so much as a word to Shinji.

Ikari felt a lightness fill the room once she was gone, but a sinking feeling at the same time. He hoped that she wouldn't take this loss _too_ hard. Within the short time he'd known her, he had quickly come to learn that her pride was her strongest character trait. He knew this must've been a huge blow to her ego, and he did feel just the slightest bit bad about it. However he was also aware that she may have needed a good punch to the pride if it made her a better teammate because of it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Misato felt a sense of dread fill her as she looked at the three and a half foot stack of paperwork on her desk. She didn't need anyone to tell her that all of them were damage reports and claims from the recent Angel battle. She found it amazing how just one botched mission could result in a month's worth of paperwork.

"Looks like you're going to be busy for a while." Ritsuko said snidely as she approached from behind.

"You're telling me." Katsuragi groaned. "I can't believe this."

"I can't believe you're still here." Dr. Akagi said as she took a seat on the one empty corner of Misato's desk. "I was almost certain that you were going to be fired."

"I guess I'm lucky Commander Ikari's not here right now, huh?" She said with a fake smile.

"So what's your plan to destroy the Angel?" The blonde asked as she fumbled with something in her pocket.

"Not a clue." She replied. "It looks like the core is only exposed when Alpha and Beta are merging together." Misato slowly laid her head down onto a huge folder of paperwork, just wanting to go to sleep. "How are we supposed to destroy that?"

"Well," Akagi smirked. "I might have a way."

"You do?" Misato lifted her head back up, sounding more curious than surprised.

"Well, technically it isn't _my_ plan, but Kaji's."

Captain Katsuragi rested her face in the palm of her hand. "Of course." After taking a deep breath, she stuck her hand out. "Let's see it then." Ritsuko placed a small flash drive into Misato's hand. On it was a little note written by Kaji. Just reading it made Misato want to throw up.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji opened the door to Misato's apartment, seeing that it was empty, save for Pen Pen taking a beer out of the refrigerator. That was fine by him though. After the day he had, he just wanted to lay down and sleep it all away in complete solitude.

He threw his book bag down in the chair he normally sat in during breakfast, and made his way to his room. At least that was always there. His room, his haven, his personal shelter away from all the weight of the world. If only that were so.

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed as he looked into his room. "Why are all these boxes in here?!" The inside of his room was slammed full with at least thirty boxes, all labeled in a language he couldn't understand. Upon looking closer, he felt a sense of woe when he could partially make out the language. "German?"

"Oh, those?" Shinji felt a tingle run down his spine when he heard the voice. Slowly he turned to see the redheaded nightmare standing before him. "Those are just some of my things." She answered. "There was nowhere near enough space to put all of that in my room."

"What are you doing here?!" His shouted, terrified to see that his work was following him home now.

"Me?" She pointed to herself. "I'm living here now. The better question is what are _you_ doing here?"

"Wait, what am I…" He couldn't believe this was happening to him. "You can't just kick me out!"

"Yeah I can." She scoffed. "Misato replaced you with the newer model."

Shinji nearly found himself at a loss of words. Misato wouldn't actually kick him out, would she? "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"What do you think it means?" She narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "It means Misato doesn't want you here anymore!"

"Aw, Asuka." Katsuragi's voice rang through the apartment as she entered through the front door, much to Shinji's relief. "Now why would you say something like that?"

"Well it's true isn't it? I'm living here now, right?" The redhead turned towards the kitchen, catching Misato throw down her pocket book on the table as she made her way to the two teens.

"Well yes, you are living here now." She confirmed. "But Shinji's not going anywhere either." She added as she playfully messed with his hair.

"Whaaa?!" Her eyes went wide. "You mean I have to live with _him_?!"

Katsuragi shrugged. "It's a part of your training. We need to keep those sync scores up, and what better way to do that than have you two living together?"

Both of them felt a pit rise in their stomach. This had to be a nightmare. They couldn't seriously be forced to actually _live_ with one another. The best they could do was tolerate each other for brief periods of time. The idea of being around each other all day and all night was their own personal definition of Hell.

"I will _not_ live under the same roof as this pervert!" She screamed, pointing a finger at Shinji.

"Pervert?" Shinji sounded more offended than angry. "Well I don't want to live under the same roof as a spoiled little brat like _you_!"

There it was, Asuka had to hide her faint grin. There was that venom she knew he had. It wasn't much of a bite, but at least she was happy to know that he had a spine, even if it was just a frail one. She still didn't like him though. She may have had a slightly increased respect for him, but that was it.

"Shinji! Asuka!" Misato's booming voice drowned out their own, bringing them to silence as they turned to face her. "From now on you two will not just live together. You will eat together, sleep together, train together, bathe togeth…" She stopped herself and shook her head. "Okay, not that one. But you get the point!" Before letting either one of them interject, she bent over and came nearly nose length away from both of their faces. "And by the way," Her tone was now so soft it was nearly a whisper. "That's an order."

Both of the teens directed their eyes at one another, sharing a mutual feeling of disgust. Misato waved for them to follow her as she began making her way to the kitchen. As the two walked behind her, Shinji looked over at his partner, realizing that she was not wearing her A10 connectors. He thought about saying something, but instead just kept it to himself.

"This is stupid." Asuka huffed, taking a seat in the chair. Shinji tried to sit on the other side of her, but Misato directed him back to Asuka's side where he had to sit next to her.

"Now…" The captain took a breath. "After the disaster that was today's mission, we only have six days until our second attempt to destroy the Angel."

"And how the hell are we going to kill that thing?" Asuka pouted, resting her chin in her palm.

"I'm glad you asked, Asuka." Misato's tone was much more cheery, a strong contrast to her sternness from earlier. "We're going to defeat this Angel with music!" She proudly held up a flash drive and dangled it in front of them.

"Seriously?" Both of them groaned in unison.

"Well, sorta." She began to pace back and forth across the kitchen floor, explaining the plan. "The Angel's cores are only exposed when it is morphing back together. _So_ That means you two will act in unison and destroy both cores simultaneously."

"And how will we do that?" Shinji asked, scratching his head.

"Simple." Misato smiled. "By timing your movements with this music." She held the flash drive up once again.

"So a dance, basically?" Asuka pinched her thumb and index finger on the bridge of her nose.

"Exactly!" She nodded. "I've got your dance clothes folded in the living room. So go get changed and we'll start your training." Both Asuka and Shinji lowered their heads and groaned in near harmony. "See, you two are syncing up perfectly already!"

"This is going to be a long six days." Shinji griped.

"You're telling me." Asuka agreed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Touji and Kensuke climbed up the stairs to Misato's apartment, their book bags strapped around their shoulders. It had been three days since Shinji or Asuka had shown up to class, and they had begun to worry. As they made their way up the stairs, they could hear footsteps coming up from behind them, causing them to move their eyes towards the sound.

"Oh, hey Hikari." Touji waved. "Whatcha doin' here?"

The brown haired girl looked up at the two boys, her books held tightly to her chest. "Oh, hi Touji. Hi Kensuke." She greeted back. "I'm just here to see if Asuka is alright, and you?"

"We're here to check on Shinji." The tall student replied.

"Kinda weird that they've both been out, isn't it?" Kensuke began to adjust his glasses as they made it up the final step. "I mean I know they both work for NERV and all, but why would they both be out at the same time three days in a row?"

"Are you about to go on one of those rants again about how we need to 'learn the truth'?" Touji asked in a mocking tone.

He shrugged. "Don't you think that it is at least a little bit odd?"

"Eh," Touji shrugged as well. "If you really want to know where Super-Bitch is at, then just ask Shinji. I'm sure he'll know"

"Hey!" Hikari snapped. "That's my friend you're talking about!"

"Sorry." He apologized halfheartedly as he and Kensuke stopped in front of Misato's door and knocked on it.

"Umm…" The class rep started tapping her foot. "What are you doing at Asuka's apartment?"

"Asuka?" Kensuke cocked his head to the side, confused. "This is Shinji's apartment.

She shook her head, cauing for her pigtails to sway. "No it's not. This is Asuka's address." She reached for a paper between two of her books and showed it to the two boys. "See." Both of them read over the piece of paper silently. She wasn't lying, this was indeed Asuka's address, but they could've sworn that they had come here to see Shinji before. Once the door opened, all of their questions were answered.

"Oh my God!" Hikari screamed at the sight before her. Touji and Kensuke seemed to be just as repulsed by what they saw as well. In the apartment, both Shinji and Asuka stood there clad in loose fitting dance clothing, and their faces painted with revulsion.

"W..what the hell is going on?" Shinji's taller friend was practically shaking. "Are you… and her…"

"No!" Both of them viciously shouted in unison. "It's not like that!"

The three cringed at them speaking in perfect harmony. "What are you two doing together?" Hikari was trying her best to make rational sense out of this.

"It's Misato's fault." They sighed. "We have to eat, breath, and sleep together." They couldn't keep eye contact with their schoolmates, as they were far too embarrassed.

"Can you please stop doing that?!" Touji exclaimed.

"Doing what?" They replied in harmony once again, simultaneously directing their gaze his way.

"That!" He shivered.

"What's going on over here?" The group looked down the walkway to see Misato making her way towards the apartment with bags of groceries in hand. Next to her was the third EVA pilot, Rei Ayanami. Her expression seemed to remain blank as she stood by Misato's side.

"Ms. Katsuragi," Hikari looked over at her with pleading eyes. "please tell me what's going on?"

Misato stopped, looking slightly confused for a moment. "Oh, you mean those two?" She nodded towards Shinji and Asuka. "It's a part of their training, that's all." She smiled. However the three students still seemed confused and just a little repulsed. "C'mon inside." She motioned her head towards the apartment. "I'll explain it over some tea."

XXXXXXXXXX

After a cup of tea and a few minutes of explanation, Touji, Kensuke, and Hikari had simmered down upon coming to an understanding of Shinji and Asuka's training. Their gags and cringes of disgust had turned into laughter and teasing as they watched the two EVA pilots attempt to synchronize their dance movements on what looked to be a game mat with multiple colored circles spread throughout it.

_Buzzz_

"Damnit, Stupid Shinji!" The pilot of Unit 02 stomped her foot down, and glared at her partner. "You keep messing up at the _exact same _part!"

"Me?" He shook his head. "You're the one stepping to the left when you need to step right!"

"Dummkoph!" She started clenching her fists. "Misato!" Her tone sounded more whiny than angry. "I can't work with this… this idiot!"

The lavender haired woman sat idly for a moment before putting down her tea. "Are you saying you don't want to do the mission?"

"Not with _him_." She placed her hands on her hips, standing her ground.

Katsuragi shrugged and looked over at the pilot of Unit 00. "Rei," She called softly.

Lowering her tea from her lips, she glanced over at Misato, meeting her with her crimson eyes. "Yes, Captain Katsuragi?"

"Could you please give it a try?"

"Yes, Captain Katsuragi." Rei stood from the sofa and made her way to the mat, completely ignoring the dumbfounded look on Asuka's face. Shinji remained silent, only watching the strange blue haired girl approach the mat next to his. She then assumed a ready position like that of an Olympic runner before the starting gun.

"One, two, three, go!" Misato clicked the button to start the song. As soon as it started, Asuka felt a sense of despair overtake her. Each movement Rei made was perfectly in sync with Shinji's. Her timing was perfect, her grace serene.

"No." She whimpered. She was wrong. She _was_ the one messing up on the same part over and over again. She was the one who couldn't keep timing. She was the one who was holding Shinji back. She was the burden to the team.

"Well," Misato leaned back in the sofa. "Rei's doing really well." Her gaze turned towards Asuka. "Looks like I should just replace you with Rei on this one, huh?"

There it was, that shot to her pride. "What?" The redhead looked back at the two dancing together in perfect harmony. "No…" A heaviness began to fill her eyes. She couldn't let the others see this. She couldn't let them see weakness in her. "No! No! No!"

Shinji stopped as he and the others watched his partner storm off to her room, slamming the sliding door shut so hard that it bounced back partly opened. He heard an offhanded remark from Touji and Kensuke, but wasn't paying enough attention to hear what they said. However, Hikari's yelling didn't escape him.

"Shinji Ikari!" He looked over at her as she pointed an accusatory finger his way. "Look what you did! You made her cry!"

His mouth opened slightly, a puzzled look crossing his face. "I made her…"

"Go apologize!"

Shinji found himself to be at a loss of words. He didn't know what he did, or how it was his fault that she ran off like that, but he knew he'd never hear the end of it from Hikari if he didn't apologize for whatever it was he did. The only problem was that he had to apologize to _Asuka_ of all people. He'd be lucky if she didn't stab him in the throat the second he walked into the room.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way to her room and carefully slid open the door. The second he peered his head in, he was met by her barging out and grabbing him by the bottom of his dance shirt.

"You're coming with me." She snarled, directing him to the front door.

"Uh, okay." He submitted. "Where are we going?"

"Out."

"Out?" He cocked his head. "Out where?"

"Just shut up and put your shoes on, idiot." She let go of him and slid on a pair of sneakers, bending over to tie them. Shinji wanted to say something, but he wasn't quite sure if he'd come out unscathed if he did. So he quietly complied, putting on his pair of shoes as well.

"W..we'll be back, Misato." The pilot of Unit 01 called. "I guess…"

"Just don't stay out too late." He was a bit taken back by how cheery she sounded about it. "We've got a big day coming up."

"Yeah…" Once his shoes were tied, he saw that Asuka was already out the door and making her way towards the stairwell outside. "Hey, wait for me!" He yelled, taking off after her, shutting the door behind him.

Rei looked over at the now shut door, then slowly turned towards Misato and the group. "Their interactions are quite…. Odd."

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji leaned against the glass freezer doors inside the convenience store while Asuka looked through the selection of sodas. She was already disappointed to find out that the store didn't carry any black liquorish, and her selection of sodas was rather limited as well. She didn't recognize any of the logos either, save for a few that she didn't like to begin with.

"Hey, Asuka." She could feel Shinji's presence behind her, but she continued shuffling through the drinks. "I'm sor-"

"Don't even say it." Her stern tone brought him to immediate silence. "Why do you Japanese feel the need to apologize for things that aren't even your fault?"

"It's just that you looked really…"

"Shut up, Stupid Shinji." She let out a sigh as she reached for a handful of sodas, figuring she'd have to like at least one of them. "I'll go on the mission with you."

"If you don't want to go on the mission with me, you don't have to."

"God, you're so dense!" She slammed the freezer door shut and glared at him. "this isn't about you! This is about Wondergirl!"

Shinji gave her a perplexed look. "You mean Rei?"

"Yes! Her!" Frustration was clearly starting to seep through. "Tell me Shinji, what is it like being as stupid as you are?"

The shopkeeper was beginning to notice the fuss coming from them, and started shooting a weary glance at the two teens. Shinji quickly took notice of this and tried to nod his head in the clerk's direction to get Asuka to calm down.

"Let's just get our snacks and go."

The redhead let out a huff as she shoved by the young pilot, dropping the items on the counter. Once the shopkeeper rang them up, Asuka began searching through her pockets, trying to find the spare cash she had on her.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" She snarled. "My money is in my other pants!" She stomped her foot. "God damn it! God damn it! God damn it! Can this day get any wor-" She ceased her ranting and raving as a hand came down onto the counter, placing a wad of yen in front of her. Her eyes slowly traced up the arm, seeing it belonged to Shinji. She wanted to make a snide remark about him being too generous, but she just didn't have it in her to protest him. She just wanted her snacks.

XXXXXXXXXX

The two made their way back to Misato's apartment, but opted to make a detour to the roof where they could eat their snacks in peace. The sun had begun to set and the beautiful cityscape of Tokyo-3 made the sight at least a little bit tranquil. It was nothing compared to the landscapes Asuka had seen back in Germany, but it was better than having to stare at the dance mats that she'd become all too familiar with.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying their break away from everyone. After all the tension from the past three days, as well as the looming fact that they'd have to confront the Angel again had caused quite a bit of stress between the two of them. Which made the peaceful breeze all the more enchanting.

"Asuka?" Shinji murmured, almost afraid that she'd snap his neck just for speaking.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you become an EVA pilot?" Shinji couldn't tell if she laughed or scoffed at his question.

"What type of question is that?" She leaned up, resting her arms behind her. "Why did I become an EVA Pilot?" She almost looked like she was going to burst out laughing. "I became an EVA pilot because I wanted to. Isn't that the same reason you became one too?"

"Well…" He turned away from her and looked down at his feet. "No."

"Are you serious?" This time Shinji knew he heard a laugh escape from her. "Then why do you pilot Unit 01?"

He found that he didn't have an immediate answer for her. He leaned his head back and looked up at the orange clouds, taking a second to think about it. "I guess its because my Dad wants me to."

"Really?" The redhead seemed to be finding this more hysterical than anything. In a way Shinji was happy about that. He'd much rather have Asuka laugh at him than yell at him. "That's the stupidest reason I've ever heard!" She put down her food as her giggles continued, and looked up to the sky. "Shinji Ikari, The Third Child and pilot of EVA Unit 01!" She threw her arms up like she was announcing his epic entrance. "He's here to save all of mankind because Daddy told him to!"

"It's not like that, exactly." He said softly.

"Then what is it like?" Her laughter had ceased and her expression was more so one of playful teasing. "What is it really like for our reluctant hero, Shinji Ikari?"

Shinji found himself speechless for a moment. Not because he couldn't find the answer, but because of Asuka. She was doing something that he'd never seen her do around him unless Kaji was around.

She was smiling.

Not just a condescending smile, or one of snide. She was genuinely smiling at him. Even if it was from her laughing at his own expense, he felt a rather warm sensation at the sight of her being at least something along the lines of happy.

"Hey, Stupid Shinji?" She waved her hand in front of his face. "Answer my question. What _is_ it like then?"

"Oh, right." He shook himself back into reality. "It's not that I want to do it just because he told me to. I want to do it because, well…" He took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Because I want him to be proud of me, ya know?"

"Oh, this is great." Asuka started laughing yet again, looking back up at the sky. "So its me, a boy with Daddy issues, and a girl with the personality of a brick." After taking in a deep breath to calm her laughter, she looked back at Shinji. "We're quite a motley crew, aren't we?"

"Yeah." He nodded, faintly smiling. "I guess so."

The two turned their attention to the setting sun, catching it sink just below the skyscrapers of Tokyo-3. For the first time since they met, Shinji actually felt like they were truly getting along. Perhaps in a strange, dysfunctional way, but they were getting along none the less.

"I'm sorry." The redhead broke the silence, her tone much more serious.

Shinji looked over at Asuka, swearing he heard an apology from her. "What did you say?"

"I said I'm sorry." She repeated, sounding a little bit reluctant to let the words escape her mouth. "You're right, I should've followed the orders.

Shinji couldn't believe this. Was she actually apologizing to him? The idea of hearing those words come from _her_ of all people felt beyond strange. "I'm sorry too." He replied.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" She asked.

"You were right." He sighed. "I should've at least tried to do a little more to help you." He thought he could hear Asuka make a faint chuckle.

"I guess we're both even then, huh?"

"I guess so." He smiled, taking a sip of his soda.

Demonstrating her gymnastic skills, Asuka pulled her legs back and sprung herself from her back onto her feet by using the momentum gained from swinging them forward. "Alright, c'mon, Daddy's Boy." She called as she started to stretch. "We've got some dancing to do."

XXXXXXXXXX

The last two days of training was stressful, but seemed to be yielding its rewards. Asuka and Shinji's synchronization was becoming near perfect, and their work ethic seemed to be taking a turn for the better as well. Though there was still a considerable amount of tension between the two, Misato didn't feel that it would hinder the mission at hand.

Shinji laid across his bed which had been laid out on the floor in the living room, where he, Asuka, and Misato were forced to sleep as part of their training. He replayed the song on his walkman once again, tapping his finger to the beat. It had practically become ingrained into his mind, as though his very heartbeat kept in time with it.

"I hope I never have to hear this song again after we kill this Angel." He mumbled to himself.

"Hey," Asuka called as the bathroom door opened up. "Is Misato back yet?"

"No." He looked up to see the redhead step out, drying her wet hair from her shower. She was wearing one of her sleep shirts that went down a little bit below her waist. She didn't seem to be wearing pants though. Was she even wearing underwear? Of course she was. Shinji mentally scolded himself for even thinking that was a possibility. "Misato said she had to work late. She won't be coming back till tomorrow."

'Oh really now?" A sly grin crossed her face. She dropped the towel on the floor, leaving it to be picked up later. "So we're all alone now, huh?"

"I guess so." His reply was more of a default response than him actually thinking about what she was saying to him.

Asuka frowned, and then walked over to her futon.

"What are you doing?" Ikari asked as the redhead grabbed her bed and started to drag it into the other room.

"This is the impenetrable Wall of Jericho." Her voice sounded ever so slightly hostile. However Shinji didn't really notice her tone since she was leaning forward, giving him a cheap opportunity to take a peak down her loose fitting shirt. "You cannot cross it. Do you understand?"

"Huh, what?" Shinji quickly brought his eyes back up to hers. "Oh yeah. Sure, whatever."

Asuka seemed to make a huff as she slammed the sliding door shut, completely separating the two of them.

"She's one weird girl." Shinji said shaking his head before he hit the replay button on his Walkman.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Kaji, stop." Misato's objection felt more obligatory as opposed to something she actually wanted to say. "Somebody could see…." She started to trail off as her lips locked with his. She had forgotten what this was like. What it was like to be in his arms, and for their tongues to do the dance they used to always do.

She began to lose herself, allowing for her folder to slip from her hands and land on the floor of the elevator. With both hands free, she embraced him, holding him tightly as they continued to kiss. However the telling feeling of the elevator slowing down was enough to snap her back into the real world. She quickly pulled herself away from him as the bell rang and the doors opened. Fortunately for them there was nobody waiting outside.

"Just like old times, huh?" Kaji's smile sent shivers down her spine as she bent down and grabbed the folder.

"We shouldn't have done that." Katsuragi sounded more disappointed than angry.

"You didn't seem feel that way a few seconds ago."

She took a deep breath, exhaling as she stepped out of the elevator. "We're done Kaji. Why don't you get that?"

"Are we?" He tilted his head down ever so slightly, throwing her a glance, piercing directly into her eyes.

"Yes." It took her a moment to find the words, but they finally came out. "Yes. We're through."

"If you say so, Misato." He winked as the door closed, separating the two of them.

XXXXXXXXXX

Asuka's icy blue eyes shot open. It was the same dream as before. It was always the same dream. Her sheets were soaked with sweat, and her clothes were drenched. She laid there for a moment, wondering if sleeping by herself was truly a good idea. Asuka looked down at her shirt and panties, knowing that she'd have to change them since they were so drenched.

She leaned up from her bed and grabbed a clean pair of underwear and the sleep shirt she wore the night before out of her dresser. As she changed, she could feel the wetness around her feet from all the sweat. Asuka looked down at the soaked sheet, causing for one singular thought to run through her mind.

"Great." She sighed. "Now I have to pee."

Slowly she slid the door to the living room open, peaking inside to make sure she didn't wake Shinji. It just took a glance for her to realize that he was faking it though. She caught him quickly tuck his head down the second she opened the door.

Ignoring him, she made her way to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Outside, Shinji quietly looked at the light coming from under the cracks of the door. He had no idea why he felt the need to feign sleep. It was just Asuka after all. What did she care if he was still awake?

After flushing the commode, the door opened and the light turned off. Shinji quickly closed his eyes, waiting for her to go back to her room. He could hear her footsteps getting closer and closer as she made her way across the apartment. Then as the noise of her footsteps reached a peak, they came to a stop.

Suddenly he could feel movement in front of him as Asuka's body fell next to his. He wanted to gasp, but he didn't want to wake her up. Her eyes were sealed shut, and she seemed completely unaware that he was there. Shinji thought about nudging her awake, but he wasn't quite sure how she'd react to that.

Then she started to move, inching her face closer to his, practically touching his nose with her own. He could feel her breath on him, and he was certain that she could feel his just because of how hard he was breathing. However she remained at ease.

Shinji found that he had lost control over his own movement, and his hormones had started moving his body on its own. It was just an opportunity he couldn't pass up. She was such a pretty girl, and she was literally laying right there next to him. He could do it, he could just go in for a quick kiss and that'd be that. He fought the urges the best he could, but his own will was just not strong enough. As his lips moved in closer to hers, she let out a whimper, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

"Ma…" Her eyelids began to move, but remained shut. "Ma…ma." A single tear began to form around her left eye, sneaking through her eyelids, and hanging on to her eyelashes. Shinji remained motionless, watching as she continued to whimper. She must've been having a nightmare, what it was of he had no clue though.

He wanted to just get up and leave her be, but something, some force from which he couldn't comprehend seemingly compelled him to stay. Was it that he just didn't have the heart to leave her to endure the nightmare? Or was it that he just didn't want to leave the side of a pretty girl?

In truth, he figured it was a little bit of both.

Slowly he reached his hand out and wiped away the tear from her face. "Asu…" He stopped himself. Why was he calling out to her? "Asu…ka?" Why did he keep calling to her? He knew this was a bad idea, yet he continued to do so anyways. "Asuka, are you alright?" He whispered.

Suddenly, the redhead lurched forward, placing her body against his, and rested her head on his shoulder. Shinji could feel his body turn to ice at her touch. He felt like he was laying with a sleeping tiger, knowing that if it woke, he'd be dead. However she seemed so at peace laying next to him, so he went against the feeling in his gut, and remained dead still as she began to nudge even closer to him.

"Goodnight, Asuka." He whispered to her. "Please don't kill me when you wake up." Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Unit 01, are you ready?" Misato's voice echoed through his entry plug. The Angel had finally shown itself just as expected. Though the battle with the Angel was truly the last thing on Shinji's mind at the moment. The only thing he could even begin to think about was the conversation he had with Asuka earlier that morning.

When he had awakened, she was already up and eating breakfast, acting as though nothing had happened the night prior. He thought about bringing it up to her, but he just couldn't find the courage in himself to do so. He figured that was probably her intention.

On the plus side though, he did get the best night's sleep he'd had in quite some time out of it, and Asuka seemed to be in a better mood than normal as well. However he didn't expect for the latter to last very long.

"Unit 01, are you ready?" Misato asked again, this time slightly more stern.

"Oh, yeah." He nodded. "Sorry."

"Unit 02, are you ready?"

"You better believe I am!" Asuka's enthusiasm brought a smile to the face of everyone in the control room, save for Fuyutsuki.

"Good." Katsuragi nodded. "Just remember your choreography and everything should be fine."

"Oh, by the way." Ritsuko leaned over Misato's shoulder and spoke into the microphone. "You two have increased your average sync scores by five percent. Keep up the good work."

"Yes ma'm." They both replied, their focus less so on their scores, and more so on the imminent battle.

"Captain Katsuragi!" Maya called. "The Seventh Angel is approaching!"

"Perfect." She made a sly grin. "EVA Units Launch!"

As their launch platforms shot out from the cages, Asuka and Shinji could hear the music running through their heads. They would be doing this without their umbilical cords, and there was only a 62 second window for them to complete the mission, so they had to act with perfect synchronization and precision.

Once the platforms reached the surface, both Unit 01 and 02 shot up into the air, catching a glimpse of the Angel lurking below in the reinforced Tokyo-3. Acting as one, the two EVA pilots reached for the spears in their right shoulder pylon and withdrew them, chucking both downwards onto the Angel, splitting him down the middle, causing Alpha and Beta to take their two separate forms.

Upon landing, both pilots looked to their sides to see the weapons that had been readied for them. On Shinji's side an assault rifle, and on Asuka's a positron cannon. Both snagged the firearms and started to unload into their respective targets. Shinji gathered the attention of Alpha while Asuka opened fire onto Beta.

Once they had gathered agro from them, the two EVA Unit's discarded their weapons as Alpha and Beta fired lasers at them from their elongated fingers. Each blast came to barely miss their target though, as Unit 01 and 02 made perfect back flips for each shot fired at them as they retreated towards the center of the city

Once the two mechs planted their feet on the weight sensitive panel in the core of the city, a blast shield shot up to protect them from the final blast from the Angel. Both EVAs peered around the corner of their respective side of the shield and began unloading into the Angel's two forms with assault rifles that had been readied for them.

Alpha and Beta quickly leapt forward and drew their claws back. This was not originally anticipated however. Improvising, Unit 01 and 02 leapt out of harms way as the blast shield was sliced to pieces by the razor sharp claws on Alpha and Beta.

Acting quickly, Katsuragi ordered to open fire on the Angel with ballistic missiles planted in the mountainside. The Angel's two forms were completely taken off guard by the third party attack, stunning them as each fiery blast made impact against their hard bodies.

This was what they needed.

Asuka and Shinji took advantage of the opportunity and reassumed their positions as normal. Both of them placed a hard upper cut to their targets, followed by a spinning axe kick, knocking both enemies back about fifty meters. As they stumbled, Alpha and Beta began to reform in a desperate maneuver to begin its retreat.

Knowing that the battle was coming to a close, the two EVA Units leapt high up into the air and began diving towards the Angel in a corkscrew motion and then flipping forward as Unit 01 extended its right leg out for a kick, while Unit 02 extended its left.

With a vicious impact, both feet landed on the cores. Their momentum sent the Angel flying backwards as they pressed hard against it to ensure that the cores shattered. A trench began to form in the dirt as the force from their kicks sent the Angel all the way to the hilly mountainside outside of the city where it then erupted into a brilliant explosion that brought an orange tint to the blue sky.

"We did it!" Misato joyously exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"Do I get a 'thank you' kiss?" Kaji playfully urged as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Keep dreaming." She scoffed, shoving him away. "Unit 01, Unit 02, do you copy?" She spoke into the microphone.

"Roger." Asuka answered.

"Roger." Shinji replied.

Misato looked up at the video feed to see that both of their EVA Units were standing triumphantly atop the mountain outside of the city, side by side. "Good job you two. We'll be sending a retrieval team to pick you up shortly. Until then, just sit back and relax."

"You got it." Asuka said as she leaned back in her seat, resting her hands behind her head. "Oh, and you weren't half bad out there, Shinji."

The pilot of Unit 01 made a faint smile. "Thanks. You were pretty good too."

Asuka made a half smile. She wasn't about to grace him with her thanks, but receiving praise from a pilot as skilled as him did mean quite a bit to her. Even if she did think he was really boring outside of his EVA.

Back at NERV Headquarters, Fuyutsuki lowered his head and closed his eyes, a grin spread from ear to ear. "Well I'll be damned. They did it."


	3. 02

Kaji tried to pull his arm away from the German girl's grasp, however her insistence proved to be greater than he anticipated. This was made especially more awkward by the fact that they were in a crowded mall of all places. When he agreed to go shopping with Asuka, he didn't expect for it to be anything like this. Although he couldn't help but scold himself since he knew he should've had more than enough foresight to expect for something like this to happen.

"Oh Kaji," Asuka purred as she ran her hands up and down his arm. "thank you _so_ much for going shopping with me. I can _always_ count on you."

"Uh huh." He nodded, making another attempt to pull his arm away as subtly as possible. "Anything for my favorite pupil."

"Oh." She ceased her walking, forcing Kaji to come to a stop. "We're here!" She pointed up to the store's sign.

"Oh God." Kaji tried to hide his face once he saw the sign. "Isn't going shopping for a bathing suit something you should be doing with your friend from school?" He already looked bad enough having such a young girl latched onto him. He couldn't imagine the looks he'd get if he was spotted in a swimsuit store with her. "What was her name? Hikari?"

"Pfft." Asuka flicked her wrist back. "When I can go with _you_?" She started tugging his arm as she pulled him inside the store, despite his best efforts to convince her otherwise.

Kaji remained seated as close to the entrance as possible while Asuka searched through bathing suits, hoping that nobody would think he was with her. That became all the more difficult as she continued to go up to him to ask his opinion on different bikinis. Most of them were so revealing that he would've blushed if they were on a full grown woman. The idea of Asuka wearing them made him feel like he should've been locked up just for having such an invasive thought.

After a bit of convincing though, he was able to at the very least talk her down to buying one of the more modest swimsuits. It had blue and white stripes, and while still being a two piece, it at least covered a considerably larger amount than the ones she showed him earlier.

Once they made their way out of the store, Kaji offered to buy them some lunch at the food court. It was the least he could do considering that she'd gone so far out of her way to get his attention. He'd have felt bad if he didn't at least humor her just a little bit.

"So what do you need that bathing suit for anyways?" He asked as they continued towards a small burger joint.

"Didn't I tell you?" Her tone was nearly sing-song. "We're going on a class trip to Okinawa!"

"Really now?" He replied. "What will you be doing there?"

"Oh it's going to be great!" She squealed. "We're going to go scuba diving, and we're going to the aquarium, and then we're going to spend the day on the beach! It's going to be so much fun!"

He couldn't help but at least feel a little bit happy for her excitement. "I'm sure you and Shinji will have a great time."

Asuka rolled her eyes at the very thought of the pilot of Unit 01. "Don't get me started on Stupid Shinji."

Now was his chance to push the subject and get her focus off of him. "You've been calling him that quite a bit. Is that your cute little pet name for him?"

"What?!" Her face began to turn as red as her hair. "Oh God no!"

"You don't have to lie to me, Asuka." He was trying to sound supportive of the idea, but she didn't seem to be biting. "Don't worry, your secret will be safe with me." He winked.

"Shinji is _way_ too boring for my taste." She grabbed his arm once again. "I need a real man in my life. One who's fun and sweet."

Kaji let out a sigh of defeat, knowing that she wasn't going to let up.

"So Kaji," Asuka started, trying to get the subject back to Okinawa. "where was your class trip to?"

"I didn't have one." His reply was fairly flat.

"Why not?"

He looked down at her and made a faint grin. He didn't want for her to feel bad about his response, but in truth it did hurt him a little bit to speak so lightly of such an event. "It was just because of a little thing called Second Impact."

XXXXXXXXXX

Misato casually took a sip of her morning coffee as Asuka slammed her fists down onto the table in rage. Katsuragi didn't even blink at her. She'd seen and been through far too much to even consider the idea of being intimidated by a fourteen year old girl with a bad attitude.

"What do you mean I can't go on the school trip?!"

The lavender haired woman slowly placed her cup down on the table. "You're on standby. We can't have you two leaving Tokyo-3."

The redheaded teen went wide eyed "Wait, we're on permanent standby?!" She averted her eyes over to Shinji who had his nose stuck in a book, either ignoring her ranting, or just trying to stay out of it all together. "Shinji?" She called to him in a pleading voice. "Do something."

Ikari looked up at her, a little confused by her coming to him for help. She'd been coming to him quite a bit over the past few days, now that he thought about it. Not just for his help either. 'Shinji, let's go hang out on the roof.' 'Shinji, walk with me to school. I don't want to walk by myself.' 'Shinji, play this video game with me.' Even earlier that day she'd asked him to go to the mall with her. However he declined, being too busy studying.

"Well," he started. "I just assumed we wouldn't be able to go anyways."

Asuka groaned. "Of course you did." She huffed before stomping her way to her room.

"Oh, by the way Asuka." Misato's voice brought her to a stop. "You could use this time to study. Don't think I haven't seen your report cards."

The redhead gritted her teeth, not saying a word as she continued into her room and slammed the sliding door shut.

Shrugging, Shinji returned to his book.

"Wow." Misato shook her head. "For a smart kid, you're pretty dense."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He lowered his book and looked over at his guardian. She'd never said anything like that to him before. Inwardly he was hoping that Misato wasn't taking a page from Asuka's book.

"Oh Shinji," She started mocking Asuka's voice. "please help me. Oh please Shinji, make mean old Misato change her mind so I can go on a romantic trip to Okinawa with you."

The young EVA pilot gave her a perplexed stare, taking a second to let her words to sink into him. After a solid five seconds of silence, he started laughing. "That's a pretty good one, Misato." He raised his book back up. "You're pretty funny."

The lavender haired woman sighed, looking down at Pen Pen who was standing next to her. Both of them shared a mutual shaking of the heads in disapproval of Shinji's obliviousness.

XXXXXXXXXX

About a hundred kilometers outside of Tokyo-3, NERV VTOLs hovered over a Mount Asama, a once inactive volcano that became active again shortly after Second Impact. Strange levels of seismic activity had been detected inside of it in recent days. However the waves were not emitting from the plates themselves, but instead slightly higher. It was as though something swimming within the magma was disrupting it. As they hovered over the pool of molten rock, the VTOLs snapped a few high powered thermal images, and transferred them over to NERV Headquarters where they were to be observed.

Ritsuko scratched her chin while Misato and various other NERV members stood by her side, looking down at the giant thermal image. There was indeed an irregularity inside of the volcano, but it was impossible to tell what the cause of the irregularity was.

"Do you think this could be an Angel?" Misato asked, stepping next to her old college friend.

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "It could be."

"Well either way, if the JSSDF wants for us to investigate it, we don't really have a choice."

"No, we don't." The blonde scientist took in a deep breath and looked over at Katsuragi. "How soon do you think you can get there?"

"I can leave right now." She answered. "It'll probably take me an hour and a half to get there though. Maybe a little less."

She nodded. "I'll send word that you and NERV personnel will be arriving there shortly. If it is indeed an Angel, I want for you to…"

"Lock it down, don't let anyone in or out, and begin organizing a retrieval mission?" Misato finished for her. Ritsuko simply nodded. "Also, you know if this goes wrong, we could have another Second Impact on our hands, right?"

"Then may God be with us." Ritsuko tried to smile, but it came out insincere.

XXXXXXXXXX

Inhaling, Rei leapt off the diving board, performing a perfect dive into the water. Her body coursed through the water like a torpedo as she roe to the surface, continuing her swim as she did so.

Shinji paid no mind to this, as he was too busy trying to figure out his science homework. He typed away at his laptop, hoping to make sense of the question. However it just didn't click with him. The fine arts were more of his style than math and science anyways.

"Hey Shinji." Asuka called to him, but he didn't move his eyes from the screen. "Why don't you come for a swim?"

"Sorry," He turned to face her. "I'm doing my homework right no…." He started to trail off once he saw her. This was the first time he'd ever seen her in a bikini before, and it was quite the sight to behold for him. She seemed much more developed for a girl her age. A lean body, long legs, large…. Shinji began to blush.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "It'll be fun."

"M..maybe later." He stuttered. "I've got to finish this homework first."

"Oh really?" She leaned over his laptop, leaving Shinji's face in perfect view of her breasts. "Oh that's easy." She remarked as she started typing away at the keyboard. "Annnnnd done." She leaned back, placing her hands on her hips, a smug smile spread across her face.

"Oh wow." He gasped, looking at the fully solved equation.

"I got my degree in physics." She explained. "So that kinda stuff is really easy for me."

"Wait a second." Ikari raised an eyebrow. "You've been to college?"

"Mhmm." She nodded. "I graduated when I was thirteen."

He had to take a second to let that sink in. She was a skilled EVA pilot, pretty, supposedly a skilled gymnast of some sort, judging by the various acrobatic skills he'd seen her display, and she was an intellectual prodigy. What did this girl _not_ do?

"Then why are your grades so bad?"

Asuka leaned back over the table, resting her arms on the surface. "I can't understand the questions." She answered. "I'm not really good at reading kanji." She peaked over at his computer and saw that he had one more question left. "What's this one asking?"

"Oh," He turned back to the screen. "It's about thermal expansion."

"Thermal expansion?" She laughed. "That's kid stuff." Her tone was ever so slightly condescending.

"For you, maybe." Shinji mumbled.

"To put it in terms you'll understand, when things get hot, they expand. And when they get cold, they retract."

"Uh huh." He almost felt like he didn't want her help after hearing her snide remark.

Asuka leaned up from the table and turned away from him. "Think about it this way." She pulled her hands up to her chest. "If I were to warm my breasts, do you think they would get bigger, or smaller?"

Shinji could feel his face turn hot. "I… I don't know!" His tone was quite defensive. "I… I don't think about that kind of stuff!"

Asuka started to frown, and turned to face him. "Shame." As she started to walk away, Shinji couldn't help but feel that she was trying to subtly tell him something, and the message just went right over his head.

However, his attention was brought away from Asuka as the sound of Rei's wet feet slapping against the outside of the pool drew his concentration. He couldn't help but notice how good she looked in her bathing suit as well. Though hers was only a one piece, it did fit her quite well.

Asuka glared across the pool at Shinji, tapping her foot on the ground as he silently looked in Rei's direction. "What an idiot. What's so special about Wondergirl anyways?" She huffed, looking down at the scuba equipment next to her.

As she started putting it on, she began to muse over her conversation with Kaji the day prior. Did she really have a thing for the pilot of Unit 01? She didn't hate him anymore. That much she knew for sure. However to 'like' him was something that she couldn't even possibly consider. He was quiet, boring, and from what she could tell, he wasn't interested in her anyways.

But then she began thinking back to the night before their last Angel battle. In truth she didn't sleep next to him with any romance in mind. She just didn't want to be alone. But the moment she felt him wipe away the tear from her eye, she had been overtaken by a feeling of complete surrender. She didn't just not want to be alone, she wanted to be as close to him as possible. Even if it was for just that one night.

She began toying with the idea that that was why she'd been yearning for his attention lately. Not because she just wanted to tease him, but because she was genuinely interested in him. She laughed inwardly at herself. She thought she looked like such a sap. Just because of one solitary action from Shinji, she couldn't get her mind off of him, and now she was getting jealous over a girl who was all in all more oblivious than even Shinji was. As she fastened the last strap on the scuba equipment, she sat next to the pool and called over to Shinji.

"Hey, Shinji!" Asuka waited until she knew she had his attention. "Look at me!" She exclaimed as she leaned back and dived into the pool.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Mount Asama research lab had become tense the moment Misato arrived. Despite her relatively soft appearance, she was quite stern and down to business when she needed to be. They had begun descending an unmanned drone into the pool of magma in hopes to find the source of what was causing the disruption. However it had yet to yield any findings.

The drone was made for simple research purposes by taking high-res photos of the interior of the volcano, and wasn't even made for the incredibly high pressures from which the disturbance was occurring from. But it was the best bet they had, and all it needed to do was take a simple picture. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Captain Katsuragi," The lead scientist spoke up as he watched the altitude of the drone continue to drop more and more. "This drone will never be able to withstand the pressures you plan on putting it through."

"If we destroy it, then NERV will pay for a new one." She didn't even move her eyes from the screen in the slightest.

From the drone's internal camera, the sound of the metal shield around it contracting from pressure started to overtake the speakers. The lead engineer bit down on his lower lip as he continued to watch the research device descend farther and farther past the maximum recommended depth.

After hearing another vicious creak in the metal, Misato gritted her teeth. They just needed to go a little bit farther down. Just another forty meters or so. However the likelihood of it making it that far down seemed to be deceasing ever by the second. Once it had just barely reached the depth Misato needed it to obtain, a violent crack could be heard from the speaker as the drone's metal body began to contract into a ball of rubble, severing the feed.

"The drone has been destroyed." One of the engineers announced over the intercom.

"Did you get the photo?" Misato leaned over the lead technician's shoulder, peering onto the screen.

"Yeah." He answered as he started to zoom in on the source of the seismic disturbance. Upon reaching the maximum zoom, the image became clear as day. On the screen was a still picture of what looked to be a skeletal deformed fetus sitting in the core of the lava. "The scan is reading blue." He gulped. "It's an Angel."

Misato took a deep breath and stood straight. "Everyone, this laboratory is now officially under the jurisdiction of NERV!" She announced. "This facility is to be locked down. No one is to get in or out! I don't want any unauthorized phone calls being made! And anything that happens here is to be declared confidential!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Gendo remained seated with his hands folded over his mouth, and his glasses firmly fitted against his face. Many thought that this was merely his posture. In truth it was so nobody could gauge his expressions. He was not as void of emotions as everyone believed he was. He just knew how to hide them.

"Commander Ikari," Chairman Keel spoke. "What you are planning on doing is incredibly dangerous."

"Indeed." The US Representative agreed. "If this mission were to fail it could result in another Second Impact."

"Think about it this way," Gendo retorted. "This is our chance to take the offensive against the Angels. We can finally confront them instead of remaining defensive." He cracked a faint grin underneath his hands. "Besides, wouldn't it be quite beneficial for us to have possession of a living Angel specimen?"

Keel took in a deep breath. Obtaining a living Angel could prove to be beneficial in far more ways than one, but the mission that he was proposing was near suicidal. "Act with extreme caution, Gendo." He looked down the table, his eyes piercing through Ikari's glasses. "Failure is _not _an option. Is that understood?" With that, the holograms of the committee vanished, leaving Gendo and Fuyutsuki alone in the darkened room.

"This is going to be incredibly risky." The Vice Commander advised. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

Gendo's reply was nothing more than a mere smile to himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

"That's an Angel?" Shinji inquired, looking at the picture of the skeletal fetus.

"Indeed it is." Ritsuko replied.

"Looks pretty small for an Angel." Asuka snickered.

"That's because it's a chrysalis form." The scientist explained. "At the moment it posses no threat to us." She took in a breath. "Which is why our goal is to capture it alive and unharmed, as it could prove to be a very useful specimen."

"And if we fail?" Asuka asked.

"Then you must destroy it immediately. Is that understood?"

"Roger." The three EVA pilots answered in unison.

"The designated pilot will be…"

The red haired girl shot her hand up like an overeager child in school. "Oh! Pick me! Pick me, please! I'd love to go diving!"

Shinji rolled his eyes, knowing that for such a high profile mission they'd probably be picking him since he had the most field piloting experience out of all of them.

"Asuka." Ritsuko said. Ikari went a little wide eyed. It was a pleasant surprise to know he wouldn't have to put himself into the maw of danger. However he did feel the slightest bit of worry for this girl that he felt he could almost consider a good acquaintance.

"Woo hoo!" She jumped with joy. "This'll be easy!"

"What of me and Pilot Ikari?" Rei spoke up.

"The equipment we will be using has not be standardized on the prototype yet." Maya answered. So Shinji will accompany Asuka while you and Unit 00 will remain here."

"I see." There was no emotion to her response.

"Poor little Rei." Asuka teased in a mocking tone. "She has to stay here while me and Shinji get to go out and have all the fun." She almost felt a bit disappointed when the blue haired girl showed no reaction to her.

"Anyways," Dr. Akagi brought them back on track. "An A-17 has been ordered, so we must head out immediately. Get ready."

"Roger." Shinji and Asuka replied together.

The two pilots started making their way to the elevator leading to the locker rooms, while Rei headed towards the cages to await for any further orders in case she was needed. As the elevator door began to shut, Asuka stuck her tongue out at the blue haired girl while Rei's back was turned to her.

"Why are you so mean to her?" Shinji asked as the elevator began its assent.

"Because she's always so perfect and proper." She answered. "It makes me sick." Asuka crossed her arms and let out a huff. "I bet if the Commander were to tell her to jump off a bridge, she'd do it."

Shinji wanted to say something in Rei's defense, but the sad truth was he knew she may not have been too far from wrong. "Anyways," He started to change the subject. "please be careful out there, okay?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "What?" Her tone seemed just slightly aggressive. "You don't think I'm capable of doing this mission by myself?"

Shinji quickly raised his hands up as if to stop her from unleashing her fury onto him. "No! That's not at all what I meant by that!" He began to stutter while trying to explain himself, but Asuka cut him off.

"I know, Stupid Shinji." She rolled her eyes. "Look, I appreciate your concern, but the last thing I need on my mind while I'm inside of a volcano is that you're worrying about me like some lovesick puppy." She leaned her back against the other wall and crossed her arms. "My stepmother does enough of that already."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, allowing for the two pilots to make their way to the locker rooms. As Shinji watched Asuka turn the corner he couldn't help but let something she said hold place in his mind. "She has a stepmother?"

Inside of the locker room, Asuka put on her heat resistant plugsuit. It didn't seem like it was too vastly different from her normal one. A bit heavier perhaps, but that was it. "Huh." She shrugged. "It's just like my regular one."

"Press the button on your right wrist." Ritsuko said as she looked over some mission information on a clipboard.

She pressed the button, and began to feel the suit inflate. "What's going on?!" She shrieked as the suit began to grow in size, eventually reaching a large bulbous shape. Asuka began to move her arms, and could feel that her entire body probably looked as though it had just gained two hundred pounds. "Oh my God!" She whined. "I look hideous!"

"You won't be complaining when that suit keeps you from roasting in that volcano."

"Says you!" Asuka couldn't imagine stepping into the cages like this. Especially if it meant that Shinji would see her like this. Wait. She stopped herself. Why would she care about what Shinji thought? It wasn't like she was trying to impress him or anything.

"Unit 02 should be ready now." Dr. Akagi said, bringing the redhead's attention back to the task at hand.

"Fine." She sighed in defeat. "Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oh no!" Ritsuko cringed at Asuka's shriek. "What did you do to Unit 02?!"

Before her stood what looked to be a giant diving suit from the late 1800s. Its hard and bulky exterior created a bulbous shell with only two pincer claws on each hand. Inside the helmet Asuka could see the red face of Unit 02 hidden behind a thick lair of reinforced glass.

"This is D Type equipment." Ritsuko explained. "It's made for combat in extremely harsh environments. Not exactly high fashion."

"That's my Unit 02?" She almost wanted to cry, looking up at the confined EVA Unit. "That poor thing." Asuka turned to face Dr. Akagi, her pride too badly hurt to continue on. "Forget it! I'm not doing it! I won't be caught dead going out into public like this!" She turned towards Shinji and Rei who were standing to the side, awaiting for their orders. "Make Shinji do it!" She cried, pointing a finger at him. "Make him pilot Unit 02! I'll pilot Unit 01, so you won't even have to change the armor!"

Ritsuko began to rub her temples. Patience wasn't exactly her strongest suit.

"Aw, I'm so disappointed." Asuka felt her blood turn to ice as Kaji's voice rang through her ears. She turned around to face him, seeing that he was looking down on her from atop the catwalk. "I was hopping I'd get to see you in action, Asuka." He shook his head. "Such a shame."

The redhead felt her cheeks go red from embarrassment. "B..but I'll still be in action." She defended. "I..I'll just be in Unit 01. That's all."

Seeing that Asuka was proving to be unreliable, Shinji let out a sigh. "Dr. Akagi," He called. "I'll do i-"

Before he could finish, Rei's hand rose, stopping him. "I will pilot Unit 02."

As soon as she heard the words come from the First Child's mouth, Asuka felt a fire light up in her shimmering blue eyes. "No way!" She rushed over to the blue haired pilot and smacked her hand down. "There's no way I'd let you pilot _my_ Unit 02!"

"So you'll do the mission then?" Ritsuko asked, just to make sure.

"Yes." She grumbled. "I'll do it."

The scientist sighed in relief. It would've been a huge hassle to get Shinji or Rei reequipped with heat resistant plugsuits, and time was very much of the essence.

XXXXXXXXXX

The volcanic crater that was Mount Asama had become filled with NERV personnel and UN soldiers. All civilians within a twenty kilometer radius had been evacuated, though if this mission were to go belly up, then they'd need to be at least fifty kilometers away to get away from the danger.

The research lab had been altered into a pseudo NERV operations room where Misato and Ritsuko would be overseeing the mission. It wasn't exactly NERV HQ, but it would suffice for what they needed it to do.

Outside, Unit 01 was air dropped onto the edge of the volcano where he was to stay put and assist Asuka should she need it. He was not given any D Type equipment though, as his duties were essentially limited to providing weapons and equipment to Unit 02 should Asuka need them.

Shinji looked up to see a few specs flying off in the distance. It was hard to see, but upon looking closely he was finally able to make out what they were. "Are those jets?"

"The UN and Air Force will be standing by." Dr. Akagi answered. "Until this mission is over, anyways."

"Does that mean they're here to help us?" Asuka asked.

"No." She replied. "They're here to clean up the mess if we fail."

"Whaddya mean?" The pilot of Unit 02 narrowed her eyes.

"If we fail, then they're going to drop N2 depth charges into the volcano to destroy both the EVAs and the Angel.

"What?!" Asuka exclaimed.

"What kinda jerk would make an order like that?!" Shinji felt almost disgusted by the news.

"Commander Ikari."

Shinji didn't know why he was surprised. He should've figured his father would make a command like that. It wasn't like Gendo valued his life, or even cared about him for that matter. He couldn't help but make a twisted snicker at how ridiculous it was that his own father cared so little about him that he'd be willing to kill him if need be.

Once Unit 02 was hooked to the crane, and had the cage for transporting the Angel fetus snapped onto its arms, the engineers at the command center began overseeing all processes to ensure that there were no faults in the armor or anything else that could result in a premature end to the mission.

"Unit 02 is ready and in position." Makoto announced, making various keystrokes as he did so.

"Understood." Misato acknowledged. "Asuka, are you ready?"

"Ready whenever you are." She nodded.

"Alright." Katsuragi nodded as well. "Begin the descent."

The crane began to lower the cable into the molten pit below. Inside of Unit 02, Asuka could feel the heat radiating onto her already. Ritsuko was right. Had it not been for the specially made plugsuit, she'd probably have fried long before now. It almost made up for how bad she looked in it.

Almost.

"Hey Shinji!" She called to him, prompting for Unit 01 to peak over the edge. "Look! A perfect scissors dive!" Her EVA unit spread its right leg forward and its left leg backwards as she started to make contact with the lava. However any grace that it might've had was covered up by the bulky D Type armor.

Shinji merely let out a sigh and shook his head as he watched Unit 02 slowly get lowered into the volcano.

Once she was submerged, Asuka's vision almost instantly became nothing but bright red. "All systems are normal." She said into the microphone. "However visibility is zero." She grumbled, feeling the effects of the heat press against her. "I can't see a thing." She flipped a switch on the controls, changing to the CT monitor. However even with that she could just barely see what was in front of her.

Back in the command room, Maya announced the depths as Unit 02 was lowered, while Makoto kept tabs on the D Type armor's integrity. "Five-fifty…. Six-hundred…. Six-fifty…. Seven-hundred…." Misato began to tap her foot as she watched over Makoto's shoulder, seeing that pressure was beginning to form around the shoulder joints of Unit 02.

Shinji kept his eyes down at the pool of magma below, watching the cable continue feeding into it. Even though she had only been submerged for a minute, it was starting to feel like a short eternity. He tried to erase all worries from his thoughts, remembering that she told him she didn't want to be thinking of him worrying about her. Unfortunately he couldn't help but feel concern for his teammate. In a sense he did feel a little bad about that, but nothing he could do could expel that invasive thought from his consciousness.

In Unit 02, the redhead could feel sweat start to leak from every pore in her body. Her hair already felt like it had been soaked, and her body was so drenched that it faintly reminded her of the night she woke up from her nightmare… And in turn made her think of Shinji.

"C'mon, Asuka." She mumbled to herself. "Now's not the time to think about that." She looked at the charts to see that her depth was now around twelve hundred meters.

"Maximum safety depth reached." Maya's voice filled the cockpit.

Asuka could hear the sound of metal compressing under the pressure around her. It was a good thing she wasn't claustrophobic, otherwise she'd probably be having a panic attack by now.

"Unit 02 has reached estimated target level." Maya announced, causing for the cable's feed to come to a stop, letting Asuka dangle in the middle of the lava pit.

"Asuka," Misato spoke. "What do you see?"

The pilot flipped through every scanner she had, but all readings came up negative. "I'm not detecting anything." She answered. "It's not here."

Ritsuko looked over towards Captain Katsuragi. "The lava currents must be faster than we thought."

"The target's velocity certainly doesn't match our predictions." Makoto tapped his finger as he looked at the readings on the screen.

"Well hurry up and recalculate." Misato ordered. "Continue the descent."

"Huh?" Makoto turned around and gave the Captain a perplexed look. "Are you sure? If we go much deeper then the pilot could be put in danger."

"I'm sure." She nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Makoto pressed a button to continue feeding the cable.

Asuka began tracing her eyes from left to right, looking for any sort of irregularity. The fact that it wasn't at the estimated depth meant that it could literally be anywhere. If she wasn't careful the Angel could easily slip right by her.

She listened to Maya as she continued counting her depth. It was around the fifteen-hundred mark where she could feel a tight pressure in her back, followed by a loud crack. She didn't need for Maya to tell her that it was a crack on one of the coolant pipes, as she could already tell by how her suit became just ever so slightly hotter than before.

"We've exceeded the maximum allowed depth." Maya said to Misato.

Katsuragi pursed her lips. "But we haven't reached the target yet. Keep going." The control room was starting to become visibly worried by Misato's insistence. Makoto felt it was a miracle that only one coolant pipe was cracked. However it wasn't his place to question Misato. "How's it going, Asuka?" She asked, hoping to sooth any tension that she may be having.

"Nice and toasty." She replied, not an ounce of worry in her voice. "I just want to get this over with and go take a shower."

Misato smirked at her confidence. "There's a nice hot spring near here. We'll go there after we're through, okay?"

"Sounds good to me." Asuka replied, looking through her scanners once again. As she was flipping through them, she could feel a pressure around her left leg, followed by a loud crack. "What was that?"

"Unit 02 has lost its Progressive Knife."

"Shiest!" She hissed.

"Continue the descent." Misato spoke.

"Captain Katsuragi!" Makoto had had enough. "There's a human being in that EVA Unit! We can't risk going any further!"

The lavender haired woman glanced down at him. He was right. They were reaching dangerous depth levels. So she left the choice up to Asuka. "Asuka." She called. "Do you wish to continue?"

"Roger." She replied. "I'm perfectly fine. Let's continue the descent."

Up on the surface, Shinji was starting to get restless. He had been counting how long the cable had been feeding into the volcano. Exactly three minutes and forty-two seconds and counting. At the very best he knew that crane could retract at least twice the speed it was going now. This meant that if an emergency were to occur then it'd take almost two minutes to reel her back to the surface. That was far too long for his taste.

"Depth, seventeen-eighty." Maya spoke. "Unit 02 has reached the estimated target depth.

Asuka began to look around her, searching for any abnormalities. After flipping through a few different scanners, one did bring up something peculiar. "Wait." She said. "I think I see it." About fifty or so meters ahead of her was what looked to be an oval shaped egg floating in the magma.

"Scanner is reading blue." Makoto confirmed. "It's the Angel."

"Begin capture." Misato commanded.

The cage snapped onto Unit 02's hands began to open up and extend as she made her approach. Asuka's heart rate began to increase as she approached the egg. Ritsuko's voice rang in her ear telling her that due to the current she'd only get one shot at capturing the specimen.

No pressure at all.

The bulky D Type armor drifted along with the current, becoming ever so closer to the Angel egg. After Unit 02 had come within close proximity, Asuka began the process of closing the electromagnetic cage around the egg. Once the egg was within its grasp, the electromagnetic walls took form, sealing it inside.

"The Angel has been captured." She sighed. "Beginning assent to the surface.

The inside of the control room was filled with unanimous sighs of relief. Even Katsuragi and Dr. Akagi couldn't help but feel a little bit better now that the Angel was captured. "Nice work, Asuka." Misato congratulated.

On the surface, Shinji could feel a bit of tension ease on him once he saw the cable begin rising from the lava. Just as he figured, it was rising much faster rate than it was when it was descending. "Two minutes and fifteen seconds to go." He murmured to himself.

Inside of Unit 02, Asuka began to relax, or at least try to relax as best she could with all the sweat she was practically swimming in. She could feel the pressure from the lava start to ease as Unit 02 rose higher and higher.

"Asuka," Shinji's voice rang through the cockpit. "are you alright?"

The redhead couldn't help but smile. "I thought I told you not to worry about me, Shinji."

"I..I'm sorry. I just…"

She cut him off. "Shinji, it's alright. I'm fine."

Both EVA pilots began to ease up a bit, happy to see that the mission had gone off without a hitch. However they both should've known better than that, because in their field of work the worst was not only expected, it was practically a certainty.

An alarm began to sound in the command room, while Asuka could feel movement coming from within the egg. "It's going crazy!"

"Oh no!" Akagi exclaimed. "It's hatching prematurely!"

"What's the cage status?!" Misato hastily inquired as she looked over Makoto's shoulder.

"There's no way it can hold it!" He replied. "It's growing _way_ too fast!"

Asuka watched as the fetus began to grow in size and take a form similar to that of a horseshoe crab. As its size began to drastically increase, the electromagnetic cage proved useless in stopping it.

"Abort the capture!" Misato commanded. "Jettison the cage!"

"Damn it!" Asuka snarled as she popped the cage loose from the claws of the D Type armor, leaving it behind in the molten abyss. Now she had slightly more maneuverability. However that still wasn't very much. Misato ordered for the destruction of the Angel, but she didn't need to tell Asuka that, as she was already reaching for her Progressive Knife, only to be reminded that it had fallen during her descent. "Shiest! How am I supposed to fight this thing?!"

The beast began its approach through the sea of lava, making a B-line towards Unit 02. Acting quickly, Asuka detached the now unneeded weight of the holster to allow for her EVA to rise just enough to get out of harm's way as the Angel rushed towards her.

"Asuka!" Shinji's voice filled her cockpit. "I'm throwing my knife down to you!" Up on the surface, the purple and green Evangelion Unit 01 withdrew its knife from its left pylon, chucking it down into the pool below.

"Forty seconds to knife arrival." Maya spoke into the microphone.

Asuka watched as the Angel began making its way towards her once again. She couldn't help but notice how fast it was moving through the thickness of the lava. It also seemed to have incredible sight considering that it could see anything through the murky mess.

"Hurry up and get here faster!" She exclaimed, reaching up for the Prog Knife. Fortunately for her, the cable was still pulling her up, cutting the time it took for the knife to get there in half. As the blade finally came into her grasp, the newly hatched Angel came within reach of her.

Asuka slammed the knife with full force onto the Angel's core, which seemed to be right on top of its head. However the blade simply bounced off of its hide as though the knife was blunt or dulled. "What the hell?!" Before she could figure out what was going on, the Angel wrapped one of its arms around the EVA's left leg and latched its mouth onto Unit 02's head.

"Oh my God!" Ritsuko shouted. "How on Earth can it open its mouth in lava like that?!"

The pilot of Unit 02 growled as she continued to stab away at the Angel, her efforts proving futile with each swing. Its skin was just too hard. "Why won't you just die?!" She began to feel the pressure around her left leg intensify as its arm pulled, ripping the EVA's leg off, chucking it to the side where it would ultimately be eaten away by the lava. "Son of a bitch!" She screamed, making another stab at its core to no avail.

"I get it now!" Ritsuko exclaimed. "The intense heat has adjusted its molecular structure!"

"Wait a second…" Shinji recalled his and Asuka's conversation from back at the pool. "Asuka!" He called. "Think physics!"

Her eyes went wide at the realization. "Thermal expansion!" Without any hesitation, Asuka reached up and severed the already damaged coolant cable, spewing out coolant that was as cold as negative fifty Celsius onto the Angel. "Send all coolant to cable three!" Asuka ordered. "Now!"

Seeing what she was doing, the command center quickly complied, allowing for all coolant to flow through that one cable, drenching the Angel with it, and in turn softening its body.

With one more vicious swing, Unit 02 brought down the knife onto the Angel's core, causing for sparks to fly as it ripped right through it with little issue. The Angel made a deep groan of pain that echoed through her cockpit which was getting hotter and hotter by the second.

The monstrous creature began to let go of Unit 02, and in a desperate attempt to kill her, reached up with one of its great claws and severed the coolant cables connecting Unit 02 to the crane. "Oh no…" The redhead could feel a sense of dread as she watched the Angel slowly fall back and disintegrate into the magma. She had defeated the Angel, but there was no way she could escape.

With the lack of coolant, the pressure inside of the D Type armor began to increase to a point in which it began to collapse in on itself, leaving Asuka trapped inside to die either by being crushed to a pulp, or burnt to a crisp. Neither way was exactly a pleasant way to go.

"Shinji Ikari! What the hell are you doing?!" Misato's voice rang through his ears as he took a few steps back from the edge of the volcano.

"I'm getting Asuka out of there!"

"Are you stupid?!" She yelled. "You don't have any D Type equipment! You'll get fried!"

"We'll see." He smirked. "Setting AT Field to maximum!" He shouted as EVA Unit 01 made a running dive into the pool of lava below. He was going to be operating on battery power, which meant he had five minutes normally. However with his AT Field kept at maximum to prevent any damage from the lava, that left him with about two and a half minutes of power.

Down below, Asuka took in a deep breath, expecting it to be her last as the final coolant cable snapped, causing her to begin falling into the molten abyss below. "Well Asuka," She said to herself. "I guess this is it." Suddenly she felt a hard jerk catch her as she began falling. "What the?" Slowly she looked up to see EVA Unit 01's telltale yellow eyes glairing into her while one arm held tight onto her own, and its other firmly grasped the cables. "He came for me? She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Stupid Shinji…. You're such an idiot."

"Pull that cable up now!" Misato barked. Within no time, the crane started pulling the two EVA Units up as fast as it could.

"Hang on, Asuka." Shinji growled both from the stress of supporting his and her weight and from keeping his AT Field at maximum power.

"Shinji!" Asuka yelled, beginning to realize how suicidal his heroic attempt was. "You don't have an umbilical cable or any armor! How the hell are you supposed to get out of here alive?!"

"I haven't thought that far." He answered honestly. "But if my battery dies, Unit 01's muscles are locked. So it'll hang onto you until we get to the surface.

Asuka's eyes went wide. "But your AT Field will…"

"I know." The seriousness in his tone was quite eerie.

Asuka could feel the pressure around Unit 02 begin to decrease drastically as they rose to the surface. It was still hotter than Hell, but she'd live thanks to the D Type armor. Shinji on the other hand would not be so fortunate.

"H..how much time do you have on your battery?" She almost felt too afraid to ask.

"About thirty seconds."

"Shinji…" She shook her head. "You're such an idiot!" A heaviness started to fill her eyes. "Damn you, Shinji Ikari!"

"It'll be alright Asuka." Even though she couldn't see it, she knew he was smiling. "If I die here, then well… I guess I died for a good cause, right?" Shinji couldn't help but laugh to himself. He'd always thought of himself as such a coward, yet here he was laying his own life down to save someone he considered a good acquaintance. Maybe it was because he felt he had nothing to lose. Or perhaps it was because all he could think about when her cable snapped was how he couldn't let the peaceful looking girl that slept next to him just slip away. Either way, Asuka was going to survive this one way or the other.

As he watched the battery countdown to the last ten seconds, he could faintly see the sunlight shinning through the lava. They were close to the surface, but nowhere near close enough for him to get out in time. As the final five seconds counted down, Shinji closed his eyes and smiled.

"Shinji!" Asuka cried as Unit 01's glowing yellow eyes dimmed into darkness, and its AT Field shutdown, causing for Lava to press against the mech, engulfing it in molten temperatures. After about five more seconds, the crane finally pulled the two EVAs to the surface, lava dripping from Unit 01, while Unit 02's D Type armor was nothing more than a crumbled up mess.

Misato and a rescue crew quickly made their way to the two Units once the crane dropped them onto the ground. The rescue crew drenched both EVAs with high powered hoses to cool them off. After about a minute of cooling them off, Asuka emerged from her cockpit, her heat resistant suit already deflated. But Shinji's Entry Plug remained closed.

"Oh God no!" Misato started to shake as she ran up to the shutdown Unit 01. "Somebody manually eject Unit 01's Entry Plug!" She yelled into a walkie-talkie to the command center. Within virtually no time, The EVA's cockpit force ejected, heat steaming from it..

Asuka didn't know what to do. She wanted to run up to Unit 01 and see if Shinji was alive, but she found herself frozen in place. It was as though her mind was telling her to move, but all she could do was remain still.

"Shin..ji?" She let his name escape from her lips.

After a few seconds, the Entry Plug auto-opened, causing a pool of LCL to pour onto the ground. There was a brief moment of silence as everybody remained still, waiting to see if someone would emerge. Then from out of the pod, the young pilot pulled himself up into view and made a faint smile.

Asuka, Misato, as well as the rest of the NERV staff could feel their hearts begin beating again once they realized he was alive. As he stepped out of the pod, Katsuragi ran towards him and embraced him in a tight hug while Asuka remained at about arms length away.

"Don't _ever_ do something that stupid again!" Misato sobbed. This was the first time Shinji had have seen her cry. He found it to be a fusion of strange yet endearing at the same time. He had no idea that Misato cared so much about him. Knowing that she did made him feel a little warm inside.

"Yeah, you idiot!" Though she wasn't crying, she did seem just as worried as Misato. "The last thing I want on my conscience is that you died for me."

Ikari couldn't help but smile. He didn't expect this type of welcome. Even Asuka seemed to be happy to see him, if a little angry. Once Katsuragi let go of him, the red haired girl slowly made her way to him.

"Are you hurt?"

Shinji looked over himself, finding that he was more sweaty than anything. "No, I don't think so."

"Good." She replied. Followed by this was a sharp pain to his left cheek as she laid her hand across it. He didn't know how to react to that. He had just saved her and she thanked him with a slap to the face? The contrast was so vast that he didn't even know how to take this. It was made even more strange when she wrapped her arms around him and held him in a tight hug afterwards. "You're an idiot, Shinji Ikari…" She growled. "And thank you."

The pilot of Unit 01 remained still, not quite sure what to do. Was he supposed to hug her back? Was he supposed to say something? He'd never been in a situation quite like this, so all of this was completely alien to him. However there was one thing that he could tell for sure.

It felt nice to have her next to him.


	4. 03

A bit of a forward on this one. This chapter is a bit shorter than the previous ones, and will the next one will probably be just as short. Its just that this episode was a bit hard to diverge very from the source material, leaving with little room to expand. Anyways, I still put everything I had into this one and I hope you like it.

Enjoy!

* * *

Every student in the classroom quickly shuffled out their seats the second the lunch bell rang, leaving Mr. Nebukawa standing in front of the blackboard mid-lesson. The elderly man sighed as he flipped his book closed and began scanning over the heads leaving the room, spotting out Shinji amongst his two friends, Touji and Kensuke.

"Shinji," He waved. "could you come here for a second?"

"Me?" He stopped and pointed to himself while Touji and Kensuke continued out of the room. Mr. Nebukawa nodded, prompting for the young pilot to approach him. "What do you need?"

The old man adjusted his glasses before speaking. "I've begun to notice that you have been excelling in your studies these past few weeks." He praised. "I was wondering if we could arrange for a meeting with your father to discuss the possibility of advanced vocational education."

Shinji was a bit taken back by his teacher's request. "M..my Dad?"

"I know, I know. He's a busy man." Nebukawa slowly took a seat in his chair, being careful not to hurt his old bones. "But your education is important."

"Umm." Ikari started to scratch his head. "I… I don't think that'll be possible."

The old man cocked his head. "And why is that, Shinji?"

"It's just that…" Shinji stopped, feeling a presence standing outside of the classroom. He slowly turned his head to see Asuka leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed, seemingly waiting for him. Ikari made a puzzled look as he looked at her, wondering why on earth she'd be waiting for him. Normally she'd have lunch with Hikari. Not only that, but for the most part she seemed to pretend that Shinji didn't even exist while she was at school.

"Mr. Ikari?" Nebukawa snapped him back into the conversation.

"Oh," He shook his head. "sorry. Yeah, I'll talk to my Dad about it." He didn't really think about what he was agreeing to, his mind too focused on the redhead standing a few feet away from him. Without so much as another word, Shinji made his way out the door. As soon as he stepped foot out into the hallway, he could feel something tugging away at his arm.

"Meet me on the roof." Asuka whispered in his ear. Her tone sounded quite serious, almost upset even. He tried to turn to face her, but she was already heading down the hall, leaving him standing there by himself outside of the classroom. As he watched her vanish into the crowd of people, he couldn't help but wonder what she needed him to meet her on the roof for. Was she really so afraid of tarnishing her image that she'd only talk to him in discrete? Even when it was something seemingly important, judging by her tone of voice?

Probably.

XXXXXXXXXX

The young teen pushed open the door to the school's roof, peering around to see if he could find the redheaded pilot of Unit 02. He spotted her off on the far end of the roof, leaning against the railing as the sun shone down on her.

"Asuka?" He called cautiously, getting her attention.

She looked over at him and waved him over. "Come here. Sit down for a second." She said, leaning back and taking a seat on the rough surface of the roof before beginning to feast on her lunch.

Shinji slowly approached her, trying to figure out exactly why it was she called him up here. It couldn't have been just to have lunch. There was no way. He knew she must've had some sort of ulterior motive for making him come all the way up here. Once he took a seat next to her, she remained silent for nearly a minute. All she did was eat her food in solitude while Shinji remained quiet, awaiting for her to say something.

"How did you do it?" She finally broke the silence, which had begun to grow uncomfortable.

"How did I do what?" He genuinely had no idea what she was asking about.

"Your AT Field." She clarified. "You made an entire shell around yourself with it. How?"

Ikari raised an eyebrow. "You mean at Mount Asama?"

"Yes, you idiot." She bit, her patience running thin.

He shrugged. "I don't know. It just kinda… happened. I guess."

"What do you mean it just 'happened'?" She threw a look his way, awaiting for a better explanation.

Shinji tried to come up with a good description of how he did it, but he just had no way of describing it to her. "Why are you even asking this now?" He tried to avoid the question. "That was nearly a month ago?"

Asuka slowly turned her gaze away from him and looked down at the roof. Her eyes betrayed how upset he was. Not angry, but more so frustrated than anything. "I saw your synch scores from that mission."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with it, you dummkoph!" He jumped back at her lashing out. "I saw it in a stack of Misato's papers." She explained, her tone slightly simmered. "You had a synch ratio of seventy-eight percent while you were in the volcano."

"What?!" He could feel his breath escape his lungs. "No way! Why wouldn't they tell me about that?!"

"Probably because they thought it was a glitch."

"It probably was."

"No." She shook her head. "AT Field manipulation like that doesn't just happen to someone with an average synch score of fifty eight percent." She turned and glared her eyes at him. "So tell me, Shinji." Her tone was devolving into a growl. "How. Did. You. Do. It?"

"Asuka," He knew he was repeating himself, but that was all he could do. "I really don't know. If I did, I'd tell you. I promise!" Now he was starting to see where her frustration was coming from. She always prided herself in her skills as an EVA pilot, and had never hesitated to boast about her synch scores to him. The fact that without even trying he blew away her highest synch score, even if only momentarily, had to be a huge blow to her ego.

She turned her gaze back to the roof, not baring to continue looking at him anymore. "I believe you."

"Y..you do?" He stuttered.

"You may be an idiot, but you're not a liar." She replied. "It's just a shame that someone as good as you doesn't even _want_ to be an EVA pilot." She took in a deep breath. "You can go if you want."

He looked around the roof, seeing that they were still alone. He then peered down over the railing to see that Kensuke and Touji were getting along just fine without him. Finally he turned back and looked at Asuka, who's head still hung low, as if defeated.

"I'll stay."

She raised her head up and looked at him curiously. "Really?" She asked, her tone ever so slightly filled with snide. "What're the two idiots going to do without the brains that keep them from forgetting how to breath?"

Shinji laughed as he sat back down next to her. "They're not _that_ bad."

Asuka tried to hide a faint grin. "I guess you could pick worse people to be your friends."

Shinji merely nodded and looked straight ahead at the sun hanging over the trees. This recent string of nice weather was quite pleasant. It was great for eating outdoors, and the soft breeze on the roof was nice since there were no trees to break it.

"Can I ask you something, Asuka?" He turned towards her.

"Sure."

"Why were you okay with me piloting Unit 02, but not Rei?"

The redhead snickered. "Isn't it obvious?" Shinji tilted his head to the side a bit, confused. "It's be cause I trust you."

"You do?" Ikari's tone gave away how surprised he was by this news.

"As an EVA pilot, yeah." There was a moment of silence followed by this. The pilot of Unit 01 almost felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Though he couldn't say he was surprised by her clarification.

"But only as an EVA pilot?" He almost sounded a bit disheartened.

Asuka kept her eyes focused straight ahead, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air. "If it means anything, I don't trust anybody as a person." She elaborated.

"Why not?" He pried.

"I only tell that to people I trust." Shinji couldn't help but chuckle at her oxymoronic comment, causing Asuka to crack a faint smile as well, and eventually join him in the quiet giggling.

Once the school bell rang, the two pulled themselves onto their feet and made their way inside, sharing idol chitchat as they did. As the door shut, a blue haired girl stepped out from behind one of the air conditioning units on the roof that she'd been hiding behind for the entirety of the lunch period.

"The Second Child doesn't trust me?" Rei murmured to herself. "Strange."

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji held the payphone receiver in hand and looked down at the dial pad for at least a solid minute before punching in the number to his father's private number . He gulped as the phone began to ring. He could feel his heart cease as the tension brought his body to a complete standstill. It did help a bit that he was put on hold though, so he at least had a few more minutes before his Dad would answer.

Ikari felt a something snag the phone out of his hand, and forcefully slam it down onto the hook, disconnecting the call. He slowly turned to face the person who prematurely ended his call before it had even begun. He was hardly surprised when he saw Asuka standing next to him with her hands on her hips and her ice blue eyes sternly glaring at him.

"W..why did you do that?"

"What are you? Stupid?" Asuka snapped. "You can set up that stupid meeting with Misato. She's the one who takes care of that type of stuff. You don't need to call your Dad about it."

Shinji remained silent for a moment. He wanted to retort with his real reason for calling his father. He knew Misato was the one who handled those type of things, but it gave him an excuse to talk to Commander Ikari. Not as an EVA Pilot, but as a son. In hindsight though, it may have been a good thing she interfered.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right." She rolled her eyes. "Now c'mon, we've got to get to NERV." She said as she began making her way down the sidewalk towards an elevator to the GeoFront, about four blocks away, leaving Shinji to stand there for a moment before realizing she was going on without him.

"Wait, hold on!" He yelled, running to catch up with her.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Abort the test." Dr. Akagi groaned "Break the circuits… again." The bright red 'Emergency' icon appeared on the screen while a loud alarm rang. This prolonged activation test for Unit 00 was proving to be quite problematic. Of course she couldn't say it was unexpected considering the Magi gave only a sixty-five percent probability of it being a success.

Once the power was cut, the lights inside of the test chamber shutdown, hiding the blue Unit 00 in the shroud of darkness, silencing the alarm. After a few seconds, the power was restored and the test chamber came back to life. On her monitor, Maya pulled up the statistics from the test, finding that the conversion efficiency was still the problem.

Ritsuko rubbed her temples, looking at the screen. This was beginning to get frustrating. They had altered the reciprocal conversion rate at least half a dozen times, yet the results were still the same. She was growing tired of playing this tedious game of trial and error.

"Begin testing agai-" There was sudden darkness in the room, as though someone had broken the circuits already. "Who did that?" The agitation in her voice was becoming quite apparent.

"It wasn't us, Dr. Akagi." One of the technicians replied. "The power just cut off."

"The hell?" NERV Headquarters was one of the most technologically advanced facilities in the world. The prospect of them suffering from a power outage should've been nearly impossible. "Where's the backup generator then?"

There was silence as the technician used the remaining battery power on his computer to investigate. "It's dead too."

"No way!" Ritsuko didn't need her IQ score of hundred and fifty five to tell that this had to have been sabotage.

In the command center, Commander Ikari and Vice Commander Fuyutsuki narrowed their eyes. In all the years NERV Headquarters had been in Tokyo-3, not once had the facility seen a full scale power outage. The entire GeoFront was made to withstand anything short of Second Impact, and for its power to just go out like this was unheard of. Both of them exhaled, and the Commander began tapping his fingers against the back of his folded hands. Something sinister was afoot.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Have you heard anything from NERV Headquarters yet?" General Hamada of the JSSDF asked as he put out a cigarette in the ashtray next to him.

"No, not yet sir." His communications analyst replied. "They've been silent for almost an hour now."

"Wonderful." Hamada snarled. "What do we pay those idiots for anyways?!" He slammed his fist onto the desk, causing the ashtray to hop on the metal surface. He looked at the radar in front of him, seeing a red dot slowly but surely moving across the screen towards Japan. "An Angel shows up and they don't even answer the damn phone?! What the hell is going on?!"

"I don't know sir."

The grizzled veteran leaned back in his chair and began scratching his chin. "Well we've done everything we can." He sighed. "We've ordered the state of emergency in Tokyo-3. Now it's up to NERV to take down the Angel."

"And if they don't?"

The General looked over at his analyst, a twisted smirk across his face. "Then Tokyo-3 will be a pile of ruble by this time tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Get out of the way, you idiot." Asuka pushed Shinji aside and slid her NERV ID card though the scanner. Both he and Rei had attempted to open the doors with their own, and both had failed. "You two are such moro-." As she slid card slid through the terminal, nothing happened. The redhead narrowed her eyes and began sliding it again and again, but to no avail. "The hell?"

"Perhaps the power is out." Rei proposed.

"Don't be stupid." Asuka snapped. "NERV's power doesn't just 'go out'."

Shinji stepped forward. "Actually, Asuka," She glared at him, just daring him to say it. "I think Rei's may be right."

She wanted to snap and yell at him for siding with the blue haired girl that she'd grown to steadily detest more and more. However as much as she hated to admit it, she very well could've been right. As outlandish as the idea may have been, there wasn't very many other explanations as to why NERV HQ would've gone dead quiet. At the very least the terminals would've rejected their cards, not remain silent and unresponsive.

"Okay, Shinji." She replied snidely. "What do you propose we do then?"

The pilot of Unit 01 began to open his mouth, but Rei beat him to it. "There is an alternate route into NERV that bypasses these gates."

"Okay then, Wondergirl." Asuka sounded quite visibly agitated with having to resort to Rei's help. "Lead the way then."

"As you wish." She replied, starting to make her way down the hall to the right. The Second and Third Child remained close behind the blue haired girl while she guided them through the maze of halls. It seemed like nearly half an hour had passed by the time it began to look like they were getting anywhere. Rei did not speak a word the entire time though, other than simply calling out directions.

"How does she know this place so well?" The redhead whispered to Shinji.

"I don't know." He answered. "I think she was here for a long time before we got here. So I guess she's just had more time to get familiar with the place."

"How could anyone get familiar with _this_ place?" Asuka looked around them, making gestures towards all the various doors and paths.

"I guess if you travel it eno-"

"That was a rhetorical question, you idiot." She snapped.

Shinji quickly silenced himself, and looked down at his feet. He had such a hard time understanding why Asuka was so mean to him still. She nearly broke down and cried in his arms after pulling her out of the volcano. Now she was back to being the same old Asuka with a bad attitude as before. Every now and then she would sometimes show a bit of a softer side towards him, like she did earlier at lunch. But it seemed that those moments were starting to become rarer and rarer.

"Everyone listen!" A voiced echoed above them. The three teens looked up and could see what looked to be headlights passing by over all of the grating.

"Is that…" Asuka squinted her eyes as she started listening to the voice carefully. "Hyuga?"

"I think so." Shinji confirmed.

"There is an Angel coming!" He shouted, his voice traveling through the darkened halls. "I repeat, an Angel is coming!"

"An Angel attack!" Asuka's eyes went wide. "right now!?"

"It seems that way." Rei spoke. "I advice we hurry."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hmph." Fuyutsuki shook his head. "Of all times there could be an Angel attack, it has to be now."

Gendo slowly raised himself from his seat. "I'm going to manually launch the EVAs." He said to the Vice Commander, his tone quite drone and void of any real emotion.

"You're going to do what?" The elderly man raised an eyebrow. "But we don't have any power. To launch them with!"

Gendo turned to face Fuyutsuki as he made his way to the ladder leading to the cages. If the Vice Commander didn't know any better, he could've sworn he saw a smile on Commander Ikari's face. "We have a diesel powered generator for launching the EVAs in case of emergencies." He snickered. "I guess we're going to finally get to test it out and see if it works."

The Commander began his descent down to the cages, leaving Fuyutsuki to handle all other operations. Not that there was much operating he could do without any power. On the plus side, the Magi were still active. On the downside though, they had all but confirmed that the cause of the shutdown was indeed an act of sabotage from a third party.

He took in a deep breath and looked around the practically dead command center, noticing that something seemed to be missing. All of their engineers were present. Dr. Akagi was as well. However it still seemed that someone was absent.

"Where's Captain Katsuragi?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"It's hot." Misato grumbled as she sat down and leaned against the wall of the elevator, letting the metal cool her exposed arms and shoulders.

"Then take your shirt off." Kaji said with a sly grin.

The lavender haired woman threw a glare at her ex-lover. _Of course _she'd get stuck in an elevator with him, and _of course _the power would go out, leaving them confined together in a five-by-five metal box for God knows how long.

"Why on Earth would I do something like that?"

"It'll cool you off." He shrugged. "And it's not like I haven't seen it before."

Feeling disgusted, Misato pulled her jacket back on and zipped it up. She'd rather sweat to death than humor him.

XXXXXXXXXX

"No!" Asuka growled, pointing towards the left hall. "I've been down this way a million times before! I know that its this way!"

"I assure you, it is this way." Rei calmly pointed towards the hall to the right.

Ikari sighed, crossing his arms and leaned his head back. He wasn't even about to try to get involved with this argument.

"I know," The redhead turned her blue eyes away from Rei. "we'll let Shinji decide."

There was just no escaping it, was there? "Well, I mean… I don't know which way…"

"Then pick who you agree with the most." Shinji didn't like the direction this was going. "Wondergirl." She scoffed, pointing over to the blue haired pilot who was slowly but surely beginning to grow agitated with Asuka. "Or me?" She said batting her eyes at Shinji.

The Third Child wished that he could just disappear. On one hand he had Rei who knew the facility better than both of them combined, and on the other hand he had Asuka, the girl who would spite him for choosing against her. This was caked on by the fact that she lived with him too, meaning she could make his life a living Hell for as long as she wanted.

"Asuka." He sighed.

"Ha!" The redhead laughed, looking over at Rei with a condescending smirk. "Looks like Shinji trusts me more."

"We'll see about that." Ayanami replied as she started following the two down the left hall.

"Hey, Asuka." Ikari called, looking down at his feet.

"What Shinji?"

"I think we're going up." He could feel that they were going up a relatively steep incline. Each step felt like climbing up slanted stairs, and from what he remembered, they needed to go down to reach NERV Headquarters.

"You're just imagining things." She huffed as they approached a heavy door. "Just you watch." She said as she took grasp of the lever. "Just behind this door is NERV Headquarte-" She flung the door open, allowing for the brilliant sunlight to grace the darkness with its beautiful rays. "Wait a second." She mumbled as she took a step outside. "This is the surfa-" A long black leg slammed down onto the road not ten meters in front of her, causing for all three of the pilots to stumble back. "What the hell is that?!"

The long, arachnoid-like leg lifted up as it took another step, revealing its round, pea shaped body to the three. The entire group let out a unanimous gasp, even the cool and collected Rei couldn't stop herself from showing at least a little bit of surprise. Its spherical body was covered by numerous yellow eyes, and all of the ones they could see seemed to be focusing in on them.

Asuka quickly ran back inside and slammed the door shut behind her, separating them from the Angel. The other two merely looked at her, refusing to say anything because they knew that if they picked the wrong words, they might send her over the edge, and neither of them felt like dealing with that.

"Well…" The redhead breathed. "I have made sight with the enemy." She said, trying to sound as though she had intended for this to happen all along. "So now we know what we're going up against."

"Indeed." Rei's crimson eyes shot through her. "Now that we've made contact, I advice we get to our EVAs."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Commander Ikari?" One of the maintenance workers gasped. "W…what are you doing down here?"

"I'm here to start up the EVAs." He answered. "Now get a move on! We have to get the Entry Plugs inserted into the EVA Units!" He barked, pointing towards the three pods behind the worker.

"B..but we've never loaded them manually before!"

Gendo rolled his eyes. "Then move and I'll show you." He shoved the man to the side as he made his way to the pulleys. "Go start up the generator. Me and this crew will handle the rest." He motioned his arm towards the group of about twenty people who stood on the catwalks above the cages.

"Y..yes sir!" He stuttered before running to the ladder and sliding down to the ground floor. He had worked with a generator similar to this one before in his prior job when he worked at the ports. However he had never used this particular one before. After flipping a few switches and adjusting the dials on it, he cranked the machine to life. Its loud hum filled the cages as it brought power to the three EVAs. Now only two problems stood in their way. The first being that the Entry Plugs had to be manually inserted. The second was that they needed the pilots.

XXXXXXXXXX

Inside of the vents of NERV Headquarters, the three EVA pilots continued their trek to reach their Evangelion Units. Shinji was beginning to feel that this was getting a bit ridiculous. First they get shut out because of a power outage, then they had to navigate through the labyrinth that was NERV, and now they had to start crawling through ventilation shafts because the alternate entrances were sealed by debris from an Angel attack from almost three months ago. To make matters worse, Asuka's insistence on 'ladies first' was now forcing him to look directly down, lest he face her wrath.

"Shinji, I swear to God if you look up my skirt, I'm going to kill you!"

"Yes ma'm." He sheepishly replied, keeping his eyes directed straight down. It was becoming hard to crawl like this. If he crawled too slow then Asuka would yell at him for not keeping up, if he crawled too fast she'd get mad at him for brushing up against his ankles. If he wanted to avoid either of those then he had to look up. A quick peak wouldn't hurt.

"You looked! You pervert!" She shrieked, delivering a hard kick to the forehead.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Really!"

Below the vents, Ritsuko began looking around. "What on Earth was that?"

Maya began searching for the source of the noise as well. "It sounds like its coming from above…" The bottom of the ventilation shaft fell through, causing for Shinji to fall flat on his stomach, and Asuka to land on top of him. "us." Maya finished.

Rei lowered herself from the vent, landing feet first next to the Second and Third Children who were still on the ground. "I take it we are needed?" She asked, looking at Dr. Akagi.

"Yes, actually." The lead scientist seemed quite collected for just having two teenagers nearly fall right on her head. "We were looking for you three." She started as Asuka used Shinji as a prop to lift herself up. "I'll have to spare you the details of the power outage for later. Right now we have an Angel attack to worry about."

"Yeah." Ikari pulled himself onto his feet. "We had an run-in with that not too long ago."

"Good." Ritsuko seemed quite focused, showing little to no surprise at the news. "Then you'll know what you're going up against."

"Ha!" Asuka shot a look over at Rei. "Aren't you glad we went to the left now?"

"There's just one problem, Dr. Akagi." Rei raised her hand up, ignoring Asuka entirely. "How are we supposed to pilot our EVAs without any power?"

"We have a diesel powered generator in case of emergencies like this." She explained, pointing towards the rather archaic machine planted on the far side of the room. "The Entry Plugs have to be inserted by hand though."

"And who's doing that?" Shinji inquired.

"Look for yourself." The blonde haired woman looked up towards the catwalks. Shinji followed her eyes, catching sight of ten men pulling a rather thick chain hoisting the Entry Plug for Unit 01. All of them looked to be mechanics or technicians, except for one who was wearing a NERV Officer's uniform. His white gloves stained black with grease from the chains, and his glasses starting to come loose on his face.

"Dad?"

"Mhmm." Ritsuko nodded. "He knew you'd be here, so he's already gotten everything ready for you."

"Um…" Asuka raised her hand.

"Yes Asuka?"

"Its great that our EVAs are ready for launch and all, but how the hell are we supposed to get to the surface without the launch platforms?"

"Simple, really." Asuka didn't like the grin she was making. "You'll climb.

XXXXXXXXXX

"This is so lame." The pilot of Unit 02 complained as she lead the other two EVA Units through the transport tunnels, crawling on their hands and knees as they made their way to the projected location of the Angel.

"It is very inconvenient." Even Rei seemed to be a little bit agitated. "Our battery power will be nearly depleted by the time we reach the Angel at this rate."

Asuka huffed. "I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with Wondergirl for once."

"Asuka," Shinji called to her. "The end of the shaft is up ahead. We're going to have to kick out the wall to get to the tunnel to the surface."

"I know that, Stupid Shinji." She snapped. "I have the same scanners as you."

"Sorry."

"Quit apologizing for everything!"

"Oh. Uh… Sorry. I'll stop "

The redhead groaned as her red mech approached the end of the tunnel. The metal paneling that separated them from the chute was about a meter thick, but to her EVA that was about as thick as wet paper. Unit 02 leaned back and kicked its right leg forward into the wall, causing a huge dent on the first hit. The second popped it out even further. Then the third completely knocked it out of the wall, sending it plummeting below.

"Alright people, let's hurry." Asuka seemed to be taking charge of this mission, not that either of the other two EVA pilots had any objections to that. 'We've only got two minutes of battery power to kick this things ass."

The three EVAs began to climb up the circular chute to the surface by propping themselves against the walls and pulled themselves up with a spider-like crawl. They could see the sunlight peaking through the exit at the top, giving the three a nice glimpse of something other than murky darkness.

The light soon became eclipsed as the ground around them started to shake, and the Angel made its approach towards the group, standing over the exit while its pea-shaped body hovered over the only way out. Shinji tried to counter it by supporting himself with his feet by spreading his legs and unloading his assault rifle into it. However a highly potent acid began to drip from one of its many yellow eyes, causing for Shinji to lose grip of his weapon and drop it down the chute the second the corrosive chemical made contact with him.

"Shiest!" Asuka exclaimed as a drip of the green liquid seeped onto her as well, burning both her and her EVA. "Retreat!" Within little time, the three mechs fell back down the shaft and hid themselves back in the tunnel they just came from, barely avoiding a barrage of acid and melted away metal paneling.

"Well what do we do now?!" The purple robot looked over at the red one.

"Hold on a second." She replied. "I'm thinking." The pilot of Unit 02 began to assess the situation at hand. They had less than a minute and a half on their internal batteries and the only long range weapon they had was sitting at the bottom of the shaft. There was no way they could climb up and face the Angel directly without at least one EVA getting destroyed by the acid, and even then they might not have enough battery power to kill it once they reached it. They needed the firearm back, but the question was how would they get it? "I've got an idea!" She exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

"What is it?"

"One person will be defense, one will be offense, and the third will be backup." Asuka started, looking over at both EVAs. "The defense will protect the offense by acting as a shield to stop the acid while the backup will go down and get the rifle, and then hand it to the offense. Once they have the rifle, the offense will open a volley onto the Angel and kill it."

"Sounds like a plan." Shinji nodded. "But who will be what role?"

"I'll be defense." Rei spoke.

"Not so fast, First Child." Asuka glanced over at her. "I'll be defense."

Ikari raised an eyebrow. "But that's the most dangerous role."

"I know." She shrugged. "Besides, I still owe you after saving me in that volcano."

Shinji smirked under his breath, looking at the timer on his battery. "We've got a minute. We better go now."

"Roger that." Asuka nodded. "Go on my command." She began to count. "One. Two. Three. Go!"

Unit 02 leapt out of the vent and propped itself inside the chute in a spider-like spread, shielding Unit 01 from the acid coming its way. As the yellowish goop dripped onto the red EVA, Asuka could feel her back begin to burn while the acid ate away at the mech's armor.

Down below, the blue EVA Unit 00 shot down with great agility and finesse as she snagged the discarded assault rifle, quickly tossing it up to her partner who was holding himself up by pressing his feet and shoulders into the wall, allowing his arms to move freely.

"Shinji!" Rei called to him, throwing the weapon up to him with great force.

"Got it!" He replied, snatching it the moment it came within reach. He quickly placed the stock against his right shoulder and supported it with his left hand, his finger on the trigger. "Asuka, move!"

"Roger!" Unit two pushed itself to the side and dug its fingers into the metal plated walls, holding itself flat against it while Shinji took careful aim and pulled the trigger. A barrage of bullets flew upwards, every single one of them ripping through the Angel's soft tissue. Fortunately for them this one was much weaker that its predecessors. This was made doubly fortunate considering the restraints the team was facing.

The arachnoid-like Angel made a screech in agonizing pain before its legs began to give way, causing its pea shaped body to drop down into the shaft where it then busted open into a pool of flowing red LCL. The cascade of the blood-like liquid drenched the EVA pilots as it flooded the chute, seeping all the way down to the GeoFront, dripping onto NERV Headquarters.

"It looks like they killed it." Fuyutsuki commented as he watched the LCL drain onto the grassy field of the GeoFront.

"Did you doubt them?" Commander Ikari threw his eyes over to the Vice Commander.

He simply shook his head. "Not at all."

XXXXXXXXXX

Tokyo-3 remained shrouded in darkness as the moon rose and the blanket of night took over. Asuka, Shinji, and Rei sat back on a grassy ledge overlooking the sleeping city, the illumination from the moon and stars bringing a faint light to the metropolis below.

"There sure are a lot of stars out tonight." Shinji commented, looking up at the blackness of night. He heard a scoff from Asuka, who was laying down on the ground next to him, her hands behind her head and one leg crossed over the other.

"There are always that many stars out, dummkoph." She said, rolling her eyes. "Its just that you can't normally see them with all the lights from the city."

The blue haired pilot of Unit 00 leaned back, joining them in their stargazing. "I enjoy it like this." The other two pilots stared at her, surprised to hear her actually contribute to the conversation. "I like being able to see the stars."

"Well I don't." The redhead replied, looking back at the darkened city. "I need bright lights. It makes me feel at home."

"Why's that?" Shinji asked, leaning his back on the grass and resting his hands behind his head, like Asuka was.

"I lived in Berlin." She answered. "Its always bright there. Even at night."

"Oh." He nodded. "What's it like there?"

Asuka gazed up at the sky for a moment, biting on her lower lip as if taking a moment to think. "Couldn't tell ya, to be honest."

Shinji made a puzzled expression. "Why's that? You said you lived there?"

"Well yeah, I _lived_ there." She turned her head towards him. "That doesn't mean I really know what it's like to live there though." Ikari remained confused until she explained further. "I've been training to become an EVA pilot since I was eight years old. Day in and day out was just schooling, endless studying, physical training, and simulation tests." Rei began to avert her eyes from the sky and looked over at the pilot of Unit 02. "The closest I ever got to actually seeing what it was actually like to _live_ in Berlin was at night when I would go to bed." She began to lean up, resting her elbow on the ground and propping her head on her palm. "I could look out my window and see all of the bright lights and all of the people walking around on the sidewalks. They all looked like they were having so much fun." Asuka started to frown. "They looked like they were…"

"Happy?" Rei finished, causing for the redhead to turn around and face her. She didn't snap at her, nor did she feel any malice towards Ayanami for cutting her off. She was just far too stunned by how right she was. "I know what that feels like." Rei took in a deep breath. "To look at everyone around you and see that even in times as dark as the ones we live in now, they are still smiling. Still cheerful. Still… happy."

"Yeah." Asuka nodded. "That's exactly what its like."

Rei tilted her head just ever so slightly, seemingly examining the German girl. "Perhaps me and you are not as dissimilar as I had previously thought."

Asuka snickered. "Don't get too ahead of yourself, Wondergirl." She turned her gaze back to the starry sky. "All three of us are probably pretty fucked up kids," She couldn't help but make a semi-twisted grin. "but that doesn't mean we're alike."

Shinji remained silent for a moment, tracing his finger along the grass in a circular motion. She was right. Their backgrounds may have been similar in many ways, but they were not the least bit alike. A loudmouthed prodigy, a sheltered girl, and a socially awkward boy who got drug into it all. Asuka was right, they were quite a motley crew.

"Maybe that's a good thing." Shinji murmured.

"Why's that?" Asuka moved her eyes towards Shinji, while Rei turned her head to face him.

"I think I'm a pretty boring person." He almost laughed. "I'd hate for you two to be just like me."

The redhead couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape from her. "Yeah. I don't think I'd be able to put up with myself if I had to."

"And I…" They turned to Rei, listening to her as she spoke. "I… rather enjoy both your company. Its… nice to be around others."

Down in the metropolis of Tokyo-3, lights began to flicker as the city came back to life. Soon its brightness drowned out the stars above, but in turn brought light to where there was once darkness. Rei frowned while Asuka sighed in contentment upon seeing the yellow specs fill the city.

"Much better."


	5. 04

Sorry this one took a little longer to get out.

Anyways, I've noticed that I have a few German readers... To those few of you out there I want to deeply apologize for any butchered German lines from Asuka that I know are bound to happen at some point in time.

Enjoy!

* * *

Amidst the cold black emptiness of space, above Earth's orbit a crimson sphere drifted into the grasp of the blue planet's gravitational pull. Where the sphere came from, no one knew. Even the being contained inside of it knew little of its origin. For it only knew its purpose for existing and nothing more.

The sphere began to crack, spider web fractures dancing across the blood red surface as the being inside awakened. Once its shell had been shed and discarded into the void of space where it would be lost forever, the creature slowly unfolded itself, revealing the giant green and yellow eye in the center of its elongated orange form while its two great arms reached out from its center.

It gazed down at the mysterious blue world, catching sight of the blood red pool on the southernmost tip of the planet. It lamented over the old gravesite of its fallen creator, but kept its mind on the task at hand. To become one was its goal, to rejoin that which birthed it. To return to that from whence it came.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji frowned as he looked out the window of Misato's apartment. The weather had taken a turn for the worst recently, as if nature had to spite them for all the good weather it had so generously graced them with. It wasn't even heavy rain, just bleak skies and a constant soft drizzle with the occasional faint rumbling of thunder in the distance.

His gazing up at the grim weather was cut off by the sounds of knocking coming from the front door. Ikari turned away from the window and made his way to the door, no hurry in his pace. From the bathroom he could hear Asuka cutting the faucet to the shower, bringing silence to the running water.

"Who's that?" She asked, her voice echoing through the tiled room.

"Don't know." Shinji replied as he reached for the door knob. On the other side, he found Kensuke and Touji standing before him, their hair and clothes soaking wet. "What are you guys doing here?" He asked inquisitively.

"Hey." Touji scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. We just kinda got caught in the rain. Is it okay if we come in and dry off?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Sure. Come on in." His two schoolmates followed him into the living room, where he grabbed some towels for them. Hearing the commotion, his redheaded roommate cracked the door open, peaking out to see who it was that Shinji had just let in.

"What are they doing here?!" She screamed, pulling the door closed just enough to keep only her face visible.

"Shh!" Ikari hushed, placing a finger over his mouth. "Misato's still sleeping." His voice was not too much louder than a whisper.

She rolled her eyes, and repeated herself in a very aggressive hushed tone. "What are they doing here?!"

"They're just drying off." He answered sternly.

Touji looked over at the redhead, a snark filled grin on his face. "Don't worry, we didn't come to see _you_. Who'd want to see a snake changing its skin anyways?"

Kensuke tried to say something to advice against Touji's insult, but the damage had already been done. By the time he could even attempt to partake in damage control, a hairbrush flew out of the bathroom and smacked the tall teenager square in the face, leaving a welt on his forehead.

"The hell was that fo-" He stopped once he heard Misato's door creak open. As the lavender haired woman entered the room, Touji quickly covered up his mouth, as if trying to literally take back the noise he had made. "M..Misato, I didn't mean to wake you!"

She shrugged, a smile on her face. "It's okay, I was already up anyways."

Kensuke seemed to notice something on her collar. It was hardly noticeable at first, but after closer inspection he could see the dual striped gold emblem pinned onto it. "Congratulations!" He exclaimed, standing up straight and proper.

Katsuragi gave him a slightly perplexed stare. "For what?"

"Your promotion!" He explained. "Congratulations, Major Katsuragi!" Touji looked closely at the pin, seeing what his friend was referring to. He then quickly joined in on giving her praise.

"Well thank you." She seemed almost flattered. "Oh," She turned to Shinji. "Don't forget that you and Asuka have a harmonics test today."

"Oh, right." Shinji nodded. "I'll remind her when she gets out of the shower."

"Thanks, Shinji." She replied as she started making her way to the front door. "I've got to head to work early."

"What for?"

"I want to finish the last of those damage reports before the end of the day."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Damage reports?"

"Yeah, the ones from you and Asuka's first mission together." She clarified, pulling on her raincoat. "The one where the Angel split in two."

"Oh…" The pilot started scratching the back of his head while he looked down at his feet. "I didn't know there was still paperwork from that incident… Sorry."

"It's fine." She smiled, though Shinji couldn't help but think that it was somewhat insincere. As a matter of fact, she just seemed insincere in general right now. Her thanks to Touji and Kensuke, her relatively cheery attitude. Something about it all just seemed a bit off. he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that seemed so off about her though. "I'll see you at your harmonics test!" She waved before stepping outside, closing the door behind her.

After she left, Kensuke and Touji looked at each other and started jumping up and down like giddy schoolgirls. "Can you believe it?" Kensuke seemed to be the most excited. "She's been promoted to Major!"

"A promotion?" The bathroom door opened as Asuka stepped out, dressed in a white shirt and shorts, her hair still wet from the shower. "When did she get a promotion?"

Touji turned to face both Asuka and Shinji, visibly shocked by their obliviousness. "You mean you didn't know?!"

The two EVA pilots exchanged glances with one another, then focused their eyes on Touji. "No." They answered in unison.

"You two are unbelievable!" Kensuke exclaimed. "She works so hard and you don't even care enough to notice that she's been promoted to Major!" He scoffed

"You know what's unbelievable?" Asuka's sapphire eyes shot in his direction as she clipped on her A10 Connectors to her hair. "The fact that you two are still here."

"Oh lighten up." Shinji rolled his eyes. He then felt a cold chill shoot down his spine. Did he just talk back to her? He knew this wasn't going to end well for him. He knew she was going to either smack him, kick him, punch him, or possibly all of the above. However all that he felt was a dirty look being shot his way. No yelling, no thrashing, none of that.

"Well if you three are going to cram this apartment up, then _I'm_ going out." She huffed, stomping towards the door.

"Don't forget we have a harmonics test today." Shinji reminded as she put her shoes on.

"I heard." She mumbled. "Stupid Shinji."

"I'll see you there, I guess?"

"Yep." She replied, not even look his way. Once her sneakers were tied, she reached for the door knob and began turning it.

"Asuka," Shinji started to speak up. "you might want to put on a…"

The roaring sound of thunder crackled the moment the redhead stepped outside, not even thinking about the rain which had decided to pick up at that very moment. Touji and Kensuke tried their best to hide their laughs at the sight of the loudmouthed girl getting completely soaked by the sudden downpour. She remained frozen still as the rain dumped onto her, part of it being from simmering anger at Touji and Kensuke's laughter, and part of it from just sheer embarrassment.

"Rain coat." Shinji finished, awkwardly scratching the back of his head and biting down on his lower lip.

Asuka turned around, trudged back inside and shut the door, water dripping from her the entire time. Her drenched sneakers made a squishing sound with each step she took on the carpet as she silently made her way to her room, Touji and Kensuke still laughing at her the entire way.

Once she reached her room, the redhead turned to Shinji and glared at him, as though this was all his fault. Then without a word she slammed the sliding door shut, separating her from Shinji and his cackling friends.

XXXXXXXXXX

Inside NERV's harmonics chamber, Dr. Akagi and Major Katsuragi patiently stood by as they watched the varying synch ratios fluctuate on the monitor. Asuka's average was the highest, though to no one's surprise. Rei's remained steady at a rate of fifty-five percent, which it had been at for quite some time now. Shinji's though had drastically increased since the last test, steadily catching up with Asuka's.

"Still nowhere near as high as Mount Asama, though." Ritsuko said, tapping her pencil onto her clipboard. "Lower him a bit farther into the contamination zone."

"Ritsuko!" Misato exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing? He's already close to contamination as it is."

"True." She replied. "But I want to test something." As Shinji was lowered farther into the contamination zone, Akagi looked closely at his score. Still no change. "Farther."

"Dr. Akagi!" Misato snapped. "What are you doing?!"

An alarm began to sound as Shinji continued to be lowered farther down. Ritsuko seemed to be ignoring her superior, instead focusing on Shinji's synch ratio. Even so, still no change.

"Damn." She shook her head in disappointment. "Pull him back." The alarm silenced, and Misato let out a sigh of relief as Shinji was removed from the contamination zone.

"What the Hell were you trying to do?!" Katsuragi snarled.

The blonde scientist kept her eyes fixated on Shinji's Entry Plug, not even remotely phased by Misato's displeasure with her. "Pushing him into the contamination zone yielded little to no change in his synch ratio. That must mean that the incident at Mount Asama was a result from a third party variable."

Major Katsuragi looked over at Dr. Akagi, her eyes still narrow and cautious. "I could've told you that." She huffed. "He was inside of an _active volcano_, of course his synch ratio would rise in a high stress environment like that."

She shook her head. "That's what I thought at first. However Shinji's synch ratio rose _before_ he entered the volcano." She explained. "Actually, his synch ratio was steadily rising between fifteen-hundred hours and ten minutes to fifteen-hundred hours and twenty minutes." The head scientist threw a look Misato's way. "The exact same time that…"

"Asuka was submerged." Katsuragi finished, wonderment in her tone. She looked over at the three Entry Plugs partially submerged in LCL. "But any EVA pilot's synch ratio would increase when their partner is in danger."

"Not by fifteen percent." She placed her clipboard down on the desk. "Tell me, Misato, are they… intimate?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of." The lavender haired woman answered. "Asuka can get a bit flirty at times, but that's it."

Ritsuko took a seat on the desk. "I think it's safe to say that Shinji's taken a liking to her flirting. If these synch scores mean anything, he's grown quite heavily attached to her."

Misato closed her eyes and exhaled. "I doubt it's anything more than puppy love. He's fourteen and he's living with a foreign girl. It's a hormonal teenager's fantasy."

"Well if the two do become romantically involved, I advice you make sure they keep it under wraps."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Because I doubt Commander Ikari would be too happy to hear that two of the pilots are dating." She made a sly grin. "You know how disastrous office relationships can be."

Misato rolled her eyes, catching the sneaky little jab from Ritsuko. "Tell me about it."

XXXXXXXXXX

The car ride back home was quiet for most of the way back, save for a few sighs and mumblings of words. Shinji sat up in the front passenger's seat, while Asuka laid down in the backseat playing a handheld video game. Misato's attention stayed mainly focused on the road, as the storm had picked up quite a bit since she left for work earlier that day.

She looked over at Shinji, and then at Asuka in the rear view mirror. The two seemed to be in completely different worlds. Asuka was lost in the digital one she held in her hands while Shinji was lost in whatever was going through his mind. She contemplated starting some sort of conversation with the two, but she knew they'd probably give her nothing more than one word responses.

"Asuka?" Shinji murmured.

"Hmm?" The redhead was biting down on her tongue while she played her game, focusing all her concentration on getting passed a difficult obstacle.

"I'm sorry I made you angry today."

Her concentration was broken, causing her to miss her jump and fall into the pit below. A sad chime started to play out of the speakers of her game while she let out a sigh. "What the hell are you apologizing for now? The rain?"

"Umm.." He looked down at his feet. "Yeah, actually. Back at Misato's apartment. When you went outside without a raincoat."

She flipped her game closed. "Why do you keep apologizing for things that aren't your fault?" She wasn't yelling at him, but her tone was stern. Misato looked at her in the rearview mirror, ready to shut Asuka up if she got too loud. "Besides, I wasn't even mad at you."

"You weren't?" He raised his head up. "Then why did you look at me like that?"

She shrugged, leaning up in her seat. "I dunno. Did you ever think I might have just been embarrassed?"

"No. I guess not."

Asuka rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that she was growing infatuated with someone as dense and void in social skills as he was. She kept asking herself 'Why him?'. Was it because he saved her in Mount Asama? No, that debt was paid when she covered him in the last Angel attack. Was it because he was the only boy around that seemed to have half a brain? Possibly. Or was it that in some strange way she felt he could understand her? After their talk on the roof of Misato's apartment, Asuka felt a strange connection with Shinji. Not just because they shared a mutual goal at the time, but because of his reason for piloting the EVA.

His father.

Shinji would do anything to make his father proud of him, to make him happy. Even just his acknowledgement would satisfy Shinji. He'd walk through the pits of Hell and fight Satan himself just to hear his father say 'I love you'.

She could relate to that. She knew what it was like to desperately seek that attention, only to be denied it.

She shook her head, snapping herself out of her trance. She had spent too much time locking away those bad memories to let them seep out now.

"We're here." Misato spoke up, pulling into the parking lot of the apartment complex. Once the car was parked, the three quickly rushed towards the shelter of their apartment in hopes to get out of the rain as quickly as possible.

"Mein Gott." Asuka huffed as she shut the door to the apartment while Shinji and Misato dried off their hair with a few towels that Shinji had enough foresight to place before they left for the harmonics test. "Hand me one of those." She held her hand out while Shinji tossed one to her. "Thank you."

Once the three were dried off, they spent the next few hours going about their various activities. Asuka resumed her video game, Misato and Pen Pen tuned in to watch some trashy t.v., and Shinji found a book to stick his nose into.

As the hours went by, tiredness started to slowly but surely overtake them. Asuka was the first to give in, growing bored with her game and retiring to her room for the night. Pen Pen fell soon after, waddling away to his freezer where he would likely sleep the rest of the night and most of tomorrow away.

Now only Katsuragi and Shinji remained on the couch, both of them pretending to be interested in what they were doing. Misato looked over at him to see he was still on the same page he was on twenty minutes ago. His eyes were no longer tracing the words on the page, but instead remaining dead straight. His guardian couldn't help but frown at the sight.

"You like her, don't you?" At first there was a moment of silence between the two. The only noises in the room were those coming from the screaming and yelling on a show Misato was watching, and the rumbling of the rain outside, though that was nothing more than background noise to them.

"Yeah." He replied. "I think I do."

Misato leaned back on the couch and stretched her arms. "I figured as much." She took in a deep breath, exhaling at the peak of her stretch. "Are you going to tell her?"

He shook his head, still looking into his book. "No. She doesn't like me anyways."

"You're kidding, right?" Misato smirked. "Remember what I told you back when you first met her? She only willingly talks to people she likes. Now look at her, she's even being nice to you sometimes." Misato placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'd say she _really _likes you, Shinji."

Ikari made a faint smile, the first one he'd made all day. "Thanks Misato, but I don't think she does."

Across the apartment, Asuka's door remained ever so slightly ajar, just enough for her to peak an eye through and listen in on them. She felt a little tug at her heart as she listened to them converse. Shinji continued to go on and on about all the reasons why he thought she hated him, and how she'd never like somebody like him, none the wiser about how wrong he was.

"Stupid Shinji." She whispered, sliding the door shut. Asuka laid down on her futon and curled up into a ball. She could feel a heaviness in her eyes, closing them shut to make sure nothing escaped. She should've been happy if anything. This was what she wanted, right? After all the flaunting and flirting, he finally reciprocated those feelings for her. However now that made him seem even more dangerous than before. When her infatuation with him was one sided, she could just fantasize over the idea and let that be that. Now that it was mutual, that meant she could let him get close to her, let him know her for the real her.

And that terrified her.

She could feel her heart sink at the very thought of what he could do to her, what type of pain he could inflict on her if she let him come close. Everyone who had ever cared about her did nothing but hurt her, and she knew Shinji would be no different. But even so she still yearned for his affection, craved to be held by him. She understood him, and she knew he could understand her as well. They were after all both cut from the same cloth, only with a different knife.

She slammed her balled up fist onto the floor as she let out a faint sob. She hated feeling weak. She hated having these types of feelings. She hated it all. She just wished that she could hate everyone and be alone forever so that way no one could ever hurt her. But whether she liked to admit it or not, she didn't want to be alone. All of those people she saw while she looked out her window in Berlin, all of them smiling, all of them cheerful, all of them happy, all of those she envied the most were with someone they cared about.

She felt a knot form in her stomach as she reached her edge. She couldn't hold in the wave of conflicting feelings anymore. "I promised I'd never cry. I promised I'd never cry. I promised I'd never cry." She kept repeating to herself in hopes that she could keep her emotions in check.

She couldn't let him get near her. She had to keep him at arms length. If she had to suffer being alone, then that was fine by her. But she just couldn't live in fear of him hurting her. She'd been hurt before, and the scars still remained. Asuka didn't want to relive that feeling of ultimate dread and despair. Even if it meant shoving away those who reminded her of what being happy felt like.

She had to be alone.

XXXXXXXXXX

The eerie redness of the LCL filled waters of what was once Antarctica made Fuyutsuki feel uneasy. Even from atop of the aircraft carrier he could still catch whiffs of the telltale smell of LCL, a smell not too dissimilar to that of blood. What was even worse was the near obsessive fascination Gendo was exhibiting with the epicenter of Second Impact. That just made him sick.

"Here we are," Commander Ikari held his arms out and gazed upon the blood red sea. "Where Adam was awakened, and purified this continent of the original sin."

Fuyutsuki made a look at Ikari, keeping his hands folded behind his back as he did so. "If by purify you mean wiped from the face of the planet, then yes."

Gendo reared his head, the lights shimmering down on his glasses. "Even so, mankind still survives."

"Thanks to science."

Ikari snickered under his breath. "Of course. After all, science makes man the most powerful being on the planet." He looked back at the sea of death. "Its even given us the power to fight the Angels."

"True." The Vice Commander nodded. "But that type of thinking led to Second Impact. Now almost a quarter of Earth's population is gone because of it."

"This fate was inevitable." Commander Ikari placed his hands in his pockets. "Let it be by man's interference, or God's. Second Impact was bound to happen. All we can do now is prevent the Third."

"No." The elderly man shook his head. "Mankind's over zealousness to play God is what brought this down upon the world."

Ikari threw his eyes over to Fuyutsuki. "Then would you say that Second Impact is the new original sin?"

"An entire race can't be held responsible for the actions of the few."

"You have a lot of faith in the human race. Don't you, Fuyutsuki?"

"I hope you do as well."

Gendo made a faint grin. "Only in myself."

Their conversation was brought to a halt as the intercom came on, an echoic voice filling the ship. "This is the bridge." It announced. "We've just received Intel from NERV Headquarters that an Angel has been detected in Earth's orbit above the Indian Ocean."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oh God." Major Katsuragi gasped at the sight on the monitor. It was without a doubt the largest Angel they'd ever encountered. Its giant eye stared into the satellite's camera, almost as though it knew all the personnel at NERV Headquarters were watching it.

"We've tried destroying it with N2 mines, but they didn't even phase it." Makoto seemed to be breathing heavily, as if winded. "And it looks like its heading straight for us."

"That's because it is." Ritsuko said as she flipped to a different screen, showing a series of impact craters in the Earth's crust. They seemed to be creating a trail of some sort. At first they started in the ocean and then slowly began to work their way towards land. Misato didn't like the direction they seemed to be traveling in either. "It's been correcting its aim, clearly trying to target Tokyo-3."

"It's going to try to land on us, isn't it?"

"I think crash into us would be the better term." The scientist spoke, looking towards Misato. "What are we going to do?"

Katsuragi had to take a second to realize that Dr. Akagi was talking to her. She had almost forgotten that with Commander Ikari and Fuyutsuki out of the country, she was now temporarily in charge of NERV's operations.

"Can we contact Commander Ikari?"

Hyuga shook his head. "The Angel is jamming our transmissions. It's impossible to get in contact with him."

"Wonderful." She sighed as she crossed her arms and started to tap her foot, trying to think of what the Commander would do in this situation. "Well I think it goes without question that we're going to need to issue a D-17 evacuation."

"And us?" Makoto asked sheepishly.

She shook her head "We're not going anywhere, but it'd be foolish to put everyone else in danger." She turned to Ritsuko. "Also, back up the Magi. If worse comes to worst at least they'll survive."

"I'm on it." She nodded. "But mind me asking, do you have a plan to stop the Angel yet?"

Misato bit down on her lower lip. She did have a plan, if you could call it that. However the logistics of it were a bit shaky.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What?!" Asuka didn't even try to hold her tongue. "You want us to catch it with our hands?!"

Across the thick glass floor that remained suspended above the GeoFront, Misato stood opposite of the three EVA pilots. None of them looked too thrilled with the plan, although Rei didn't seem visibly against it. However that didn't exactly account for much.

"We've created a grid of the estimated impact zone, and all three EVA's should be able to cover the area. All you have to do is deploy your AT Fields and catch it before it hits the ground."

"And what if it doesn't land in the estimated impact zone?" Shinji inquired.

"Then we're all going to die."

"Oh that's reassuring!" The redhead scoffed. "How do you even know if our AT Fields can hold it?"

"We don't." Asuka and Shinji found her bluntness to be rather unsettling.

"So let me get this straight." The fiery pilot of Unit 02 started up again. "You plan on having us run out there and guess where its going to land, catch it, and kill it?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "Pretty much." She could see the visible lack of morale in the group, but she wasn't going to sugarcoat the situation at hand. The entirety of Japan pretty much lied in their hands at this point, and to lessen that fact would've been foolish. "If you don't want to partake in this mission, then I will not stop you."

"Pfft!" She expected that much of a reaction out of Asuka. "You think we're just going to sit back and watch that Angel flatten everything?!" She stomped her foot down onto the clear floor. "I'll have you know I've kinda grown a bit attached to this place! So seeing it get squashed into a pancake isn't exactly one of my highest priorities!"

"I see." Major Katsuragi nodded. "And you, Shinji?"

He lifted his head up, seemingly like he had been brought out of a trance. "I'll… I'll go on the mission."

She smiled. "And you, Rei?"

"I accept." Her response was flat and to the point.

"Well," She pulled up a clipboard and scanned over the document. "according to this you're also supposed to fill out a will. Have you done that?"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "I don't need to fill one out. _I'm_ not going to die."

"Same." The blue haired pilot concurred. "It would be pointless."

"Yeah." Ikari spoke. "I don't need to fill one out either."

Misato couldn't help but smile. All three of them were faced with a near astronomical probability of dying, and yet they still stood their ground. "Okay then." She exhaled. "But I promise, when this is all done I'll take you three out to a nice steak dinner."

"A steak dinner?" Asuka sounded almost offended by the offer.

"Wow!" Shinji quickly added in false enthusiasm, hoping to overshadow his partner's lack thereof.

Catching on to what he was doing, Soryu tried to make a recovery. "You won't forget, right?"

"I swear I won't." With that, the Major turned around and made her way out the door, leaving the three teens standing in the room by themselves. Once the door closed and segregated her from the pilots, both Shinji and Asuka let out sighs of disappointment.

"A steak dinner is supposed to impress us?" He sounded more dumbfounded than anything.

"Whatever." Asuka murmured as she made her way out the door. Shinji raised an eyebrow as he watched her leave the room. All morning she'd been like this. It was commonplace for her to be irritable around him, but she had been acting much worse than normal. This wasn't exactly very comforting for him either, especially considering the little heart-to-heart he had with Misato the night before.

"It bothers you?" Rei broke the silence. Shinji turned to face her, seeing that the blue haired girl was still looking straight forward. "It bothers you when the Second Child acts coldly to you, does it not?"

"Uh… Yeah." He replied, a bit surprised that she was capable of reading him so well. He liked to think that he did a good job hiding his emotions in situations like that, but if Rei of all people could see through him, then he figured he must've been doing a terrible job at it.

"If it makes you feel any better, I do not believe she truly feels that harshly about you."

"What makes you say that?"

"I've watched her from afar." Rei replied. "She seems…" She paused for a second, trying to think of the best word to describe the pilot of Unit 02. "Confused."

XXXXXXXXXX

"This just keeps getting better and better." Asuka rubbed her temples after taking a look at the monitor. "That area is huge! How the hell are the three of us supposed to cover that?"

Katsuragi looked up at the screen. Though it was grided out into three sectors, each sector was at least fifteen square kilometers. "I know it's a large area, but we can't make an exact estimate of the projected point of impact." She looked over at the redhead and shrugged. "It's the best we can do."

"So you're saying this is all just based on a guess?!"

"I like to call it women's intuition." She smiled before turning back to the monitor.

"Oh my God." Asuka sounded more baffled than worried. "We're going to die."

Shinji quite visibly felt her sentiment. The Angel may have been huge, but a fifteen square kilometer area was incredibly vast. Besides that, even _if_ they could reach it in time, there was no certainty that they'd be able to catch it, much less kill it.

"I guess there's not backing out of this now, is there?" He tried to sound at least somewhat reassuring, but his German partner didn't seem to be too settled by it.

"Shut up, Shinji."

Ikari threw her a stern glance. He didn't know what was causing her to be so overly hostile, but it was starting to grate his nerves. Rei looked over at the two, practically feeling the tension radiating between them.

"I advice we keep our minds on the task at hand." She softly spoke.

"Yeah…" Shinji's agitation could be heard in his voice. Asuka let out little more than a huff and crossed her arms.

XXXXXXXXXX

The elevator ride down to the cages had to have been the longest forty-five seconds of Shinji's life. They entire way down was eerily silent. Normally Asuka would be boasting the whole way down, or at least playfully teasing Shinji about his skills and how much better she was than him. But this time she was just being dead quiet. The pilot of Unit 01 wanted to pass it off to her being worried about the mission, but there just seemed to be more to it than that.

Her body language was both stiff and loose. Her posture was ridged, yet her shoulders were just slightly slumped forward. Her head was tilted down and her arms had yet to uncross. Despite his bad social skills, Shinji felt that he could make a safe assumption that something was bothering her. What that was though, he had no idea.

"Asuka?"

"What?" She bit. Her tongue like a knife.

"What's bothering you?"

Her cold blue eyes shot up and met his, piercing him where he stood. "You want to know what's bothering me, Stupid Shinji?"

"Yeah, I do." His tone sounded genuinely concerned.

"I don't know? Maybe the reason why I'm so on edge is because I'm about to go out on a suicide mission with a living doll and a boy who's so stupid that just being near him makes me want to kill myself!" She snarled, her arms uncrossing as she started her ranting. "Or maybe, just _maybe_ it's that I just…." She started to trail off as she started thinking about what she was planning on saying to him.

What was she doing? Why was she lashing out at him for being concerned for her? Did she really want to push him away that badly? That's what she wanted to do, wasn't it? She wanted to push him away. She wanted to make him hate her. Then she'd never have to worry about him getting close to her.

She didn't want that though. She wanted him to be close, or at least she thought she did. It was like a war was being waged inside her head. She needed to push him away, to make sure she could never allow for him to get close to her. But now that she was actually trying to do just that, she felt like it made her sick to her stomach.

She was tired of being confused by her emotions. She was tired of the fighting going on between her heart and her mind. Most of all though, she was just tired of being mean to Shinji. Maybe pushing him away was a good idea, but doing it like this was just far too much for her.

"Asuka," Shinji tried to place his hand on her shoulder. "are you alrigh-"

She pushed his hand to the side. "Yeah, I'm fine." She answered flatly. "I'm sorry for yelling at you like that." She looked up at him, trying to conjure a smile from within her, even if it was just a faint one. "We'll talk about it later, okay?"

Shinji replied by simply nodding.

"Good." Her cocky grin started to find its way to her face. "Now lets go out there and kick this Angel's ass!" She could feel a sense of revitalization flow through her. "I don't know about you two, but I could really go for a steak dinner!"

The Third Child cracked a grin, happy to see that Asuka had pulled herself together, for now at least.

"I don't like meat." Rei said softly.

Asuka lost her smile and placed her hands on her hips. "Well aren't you a little Ms. Buzzkill?"

XXXXXXXXXX

The rain had yet to let up. Thick clouds hovered over the abandon city, blocking out sight of the sky. Of course there'd be severe overcast on today of all days. Unit 00, 01, and 02 stood at their ready positions in idol mode. They'd have to do this sortie without their umbilical cables, which meant that the moment they caught the Angel, they'd have to kill it, and fast.

The three pilots remained in a trance-like state as they awaited to hear their commands from Misato. Shinji had found relative peace of mind now that Asuka was no longer so aggressive towards him. He still had no clue what brought about her sudden hostility towards him, but he'd have to worry about that later.

"The Angel has been sighted!" Aoba announced to everyone in the command room. "Estimated time of impact: three minutes!"

"Alright everyone," Misato spoke into the microphone. "get into your ready positions." Each EVA got down on their hands and feet, assuming the starting position of a track runner. "We can only use the Magi's rough estimated trajectory to get you within ten thousand meters of the target. After that, you're on your own." Each pilot remained dead silent, focused on the task at hand. "I'm putting all my trust into you three."

The three nodded, but made no vocal reply.

The second their umbilical cables detached, all three EVA Units shot forward, their battery timers slowly counting down. The crackling of thunder could be heard traveling across the sky as they darted through the fortified metropolis.

Each heavy step shook the ground around them, leaving large indentions in the dirt. Off in the distance, each pilot could see one another's EVAs. Without the large city blocking their sight it made it quite easy to spot out each other.

Unit 00 leapt over a series of power lines as she picked up her pace, not because she was concerned about collateral damage, but because she didn't want to lose her speed. Asuka seemed to be putting her past track skills to use, leaping over various obstacles like hurdles while not losing the slightest bit of momentum. Shinji was fortunate enough to have the most direct route. Little stood in his way except for small houses and the occasional tree that he could either easily avoid or just crush all together.

"You're now within ten thousand meters of the target!" Major Katsuragi's voice echoed through their Entry Plugs. "It's all up to you now!"

"I can't see a damn thing!" Asuka growled, continuing her sprint along with Shinji and Rei. "The clouds are blocking out the sky!"

"And its jamming our radars." Rei added.

"How the hell are we supposed to find it then?!"

Shinji remained silent as he continued to dart forward, looking up at the dark gray sky, catching a bolt of lightning cascade down, which was followed by vicious thunder.

"I've got it!" Ikari snapped his fingers.

"I'm all ears!" Asuka was starting to sound just the slightest bit frantic.

"If a large object were to cause a sudden displacement in the clouds during a thunderstorm, there will be more lightning in that area, right? From the static electricity?"

Asuka seemed a bit taken back by his off the wall science question. "Now's not the time for me to help you on your homework, dummkoph!"

"Just answer my question!" Shinji shot back. "If a large object causes cloud displacement, will there be more lightning?"

"Yes!" She answered. "What does that have to do with anything?!"

"If we follow the lightning, then that'll take us to where the Angel is!"

The redhead found herself a bit taken back by his suggestion, but even more so taken back by not catching onto him as quickly as she felt she should have. "Huh. That's actually not a bad idea."

As though it was waiting for their realization, the clouds erupted into a booming thunder as bolts of electricity danced across the sky. All three EVA pilots turned their attention to the raging storm, and charged towards it at full speed.

Unit 01 picked up its pace as the purple mech dashed with extreme speed towards the point of impact. Around it, a loud crack could be heard as the EVA Unit began to reach the point of breaking the sound barrier. Shinji had no idea an Evangelion was capable of such speeds, but now wasn't exactly the best time to question it.

Once he reached the location the Angel was descending to, he reared his feet back and slid on his heels, digging the EVA's feet into the ground while he held his arms firmly up to the sky. "Deploying AT Field!"

The clouds above him began to disperse as the giant eye forced its way through the thunderstorm, colliding directly into Unit 01's AT Field. Shinji bellowed out in pain as he could feel his arms begin to strain from holding all the weight of the colossal Angel. Off to the sides, Unit 00 and 02 sprinted towards the Angel at top speed, hoping to arrive before Unit 01's strength gave out.

"Unit 02!" Rei actually sounded a bit on edge for once. "Deploy your AT Field!"

"I already am!" The redhead exclaimed, running up to Shinji's side and assisting him in holding the giant Angel back. Rei joined in shortly thereafter.

"I can't hold this thing much longer!" Ikari groaned as his arms started to slightly give way.

"Hold on!" Asuka replied, reaching down for her progressive knife while Rei tore away at the Angel's AT Field with her bare hands, opening it just enough for Unit 02 to reach through and stab it. "Now just die!" She roared, thrusting the ultra sharp blade through the hole in the AT Field and cutting into the core located in its pupil.

Suddenly, Shinji could feel all the force pressing against him let off as the Angel became nothing more than dead weight. He looked up to see Asuka pull the knife out of the monster's core, causing for a spew of LCL to drench the three EVAs.

A deep bellow could be heard from the Angel as its body began to expand and bubble. The three EVAs braced themselves for what was coming next. After a few seconds, its back erupted as a geyser of the blood red liquid shot into the sky and its drained carcass fell limp onto the three.

Back in NERV Headquarters, Misato let out a huge sigh of relief, falling back onto the floor, resting her right hand atop her forehead. "That was close." She laughed. "Good work you three." She spoke into the microphone which she held firmly in hand. "We'll send a recovery team to pick you up."

XXXXXXXXXX

The metro to the inner city of Tokyo-3 had started to become lively again with all the returning residents. However the city had yet to fully return to its state of normalcy. Shinji looked out the window of the tram and gazed at the lifeless body of the massive Angel that still remained atop the hill on the outskirts of Tokyo-3. It was fortunate that it landed outside of the city, as the amount of collateral damage it would've caused otherwise would have been disastrous.

"It's really nice of you to take us out to eat like this." Asuka said as she leaned back in her seat between Misato and Shinji.

"Well I did promise you three I'd take you out for dinner after the mission, didn't I?" Katsuragi smiled.

"Still, it's gotta be a bit expensive to take all of us out like this."

She shrugged. "I just withdrew a few bills from my account." She kept her smile, but internally grimaced over how she was going to pay this month's rent now, since this dinner would probably strap her for cash.

Asuka looked over at Shinji, giving him a knowing smirk. Shinji returned it with a grin and a nod.

XXXXXXXXXX

"A sushi bar?" Misato seemed quite perplexed to see the so called "restaurant" the three teens had led her to.

"We know you're broke, Misato." Asuka nudged. "So we thought this place would work just fine."

Katsuragi felt a little tingling in her heart. Here they were not only after saving Japan yet again from an Angel attack, but also after walking away from what was the definition of a suicide mission. Yet they were still so selfless as to turn down her promise for something even lesser than the already meager reward she had to offer.

Proud was the only word that could describe how she felt at that moment in time.

As they sat down on the mat and ate from their bowls, Shinji began to twirl his chopsticks while he lost himself in thought. He could still hear his father's words ringing in his ears from the mission's debriefing. He found it to be no surprise that Commander Ikari would call to receive a status report, but he did find it surprising to hear the words the Commander had to say to him specifically.

While He, Asuka, and Rei stood before the monitor, Commander Ikari, his father, only spoke three words to him. Yet those words held more weight to him than anything else anyone had ever said to him before. The very words that he had been striving to hear from his father for his entire life.

"Good work, Shinji."

Just those words alone brought fulfillment to the reason he piloted Unit 01. That's all he ever wanted to hear, and now that he had heard those words, he felt like he could take down all of the Angels by himself. However there was one other thing that was etching itself into his mind. When he unleashed the full power of his AT Field and held back the Angel, making his father proud wasn't the first thought on his mind. Instead, it was the two pilots standing next to him.

"Hey," Asuka waved her hand in front of his face. "Earth to Shinji. Are you there?"

"Oh, hey." He pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked over at the redheaded pilot.

"So what's it like?" It became clear to him that he must've missed her question while his mind was off in another world.

"What's what like?"

She rolled her eyes. "What's it like now that you finally got all that praise you were looking for?" She smirked. "Don't tell me you're going to quit piloting the EVA now that you got your Daddy's appreciation." He couldn't tell if the last part of what she said was meant to be sarcasm or not.

He put his chopsticks down next to his bowl and shook his head. "It's nice." He answered. "But…"

"But what?" By this point Misato and Rei seemed to be drawn in on the conversation.

Ikari shrugged as he looked up at Asuka, trying to keep eye contact with her. He couldn't help but lose himself for a moment in her icy blue eyes before finally speaking. "Its just… that it was nice and all, but I don't think that's the reason why I pilot the EVA anymore."

Asuka went a little wide-eyed. "Don't tell me that our reluctant hero, Shinji Ikari is actually starting to like piloting Unit 01?"

He couldn't help but let a faint grin escape him. "Actually, I think the reason why I pilot the EVA now is because of well… for my friends."

She cocked her head a bit. "Your friends?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "You, Rei, and Misato are my friends, right?"

Asuka jumped back a bit, visibly startled by Shinji's words. Rei on the other hand seemed to be rather surprised to hear this, but maintained her composure.

"Of course we are!" Misato replied with a smile.

Asuka looked down at the mat. Friends? Really? Her and Shinji? Even after how harshly she had treated him in the past, and how mean and spiteful she became after hearing about his feelings for her, he still considered her to be a friend? She couldn't tell if this was weakness on his part for being so blindly loyal to her, or if it was because he truly did have nothing but good intentions in mind between them. She wanted to think it was the latter, though the former was just as probable. What remained to be asked however, was whether or not she considered him one as well.

Despite Misato's words, Shinji still kept his eyes locked on Asuka. She could feel him looking at her, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah." She nodded, raising her head up with a genuine smile. "Of course we're friends."


	6. 05

Hey, sorry about the wait. It was like any and everything was trying to stop me from getting this one ready.

Anyways, this chapter basically completely glosses over Episode 13, and then covers Episode 14. I was never a big fan of Episode 13, so if you were looking forward to seeing that one, I'm sorry.

On the plus side, there's quite a bit of new material in this chapter, so there's that to look forward to.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Asuka clenched onto her towel, keeping it tightly wrapped around her body. "I've been through decontamination twice already!"

"I know, I know." Dr. Akagi's voice echoed throughout the white chamber. "But we can never be too careful. We have to eliminate all foreign bodies before commencing the autopilot tests."

"But I don't wanna." She whined, stomping her bare foot down.

"Too bad." Ritsuko was starting to lose her patience. "Go through decontamination again and you'll be done."

"Fine." She huffed, dropping the towel. The process had gotten old halfway through the second round of it. Having to go through the same wash cycles over and over again was starting to make her feel almost too clean, if that made any sense. Asuka felt like there was no reason her skin should ever be _this_ sterile. Every pore on her body had been rinsed and washed over and over again to the point that it felt almost like her skin had been rubbed raw.

Once the final decontamination process was over, she stepped through the door, leading her into another large white chamber. She found herself standing inside of what looked to be a stall, with a shoulder high wall separating her from two other stalls, and a glass door in front of her.

After a moment, the door to the stall farthest from her opened, Rei Ayanami stepping though it. She didn't look the least bit fazed by the human carwash she'd just walked through, though Asuka couldn't say that surprised her.

"Hey, Wondergirl." She called. "Are you all squeaky clea-" Her words began to morph into a scream as the door to the stall closest to hers opened. As Shinji stepped through, Asuka felt a shiver of terror shoot down her spine. "What the hell is _he_ doing in here?!" She screamed up to the camera, quickly covering herself.

"Sorry." Shinji murmured, keeping his eyes directed down at his feet.

"Shut up, Shinji." She silenced. "Dr. Akagi! Why is he in here too!"

"Sorry Asuka, but this is the only decontamination chamber that leads to the test plugs. You're just going to have to deal with it."

"Deal with it?!" She roared. "Why type of operation is thi-"

"Asuka!" Ritsuko snapped. "Just walk into the chamber and get inside your Entry Plug. All the cameras will be turned off. As for the privacy between the three of you, you're just going to go by the honor code."

"Honor code?" She was about to lose it. "Shinji, if you look at me, I swear to God I'll kill you!"

"Yes ma'm." He sheepishly replied, his eyes still down at his feet.

Once the glass doors opened, the three began making their way out of the stalls and through the long white chamber. To avoid any unintentional glances, Shinji placed his hands over the sides of his face to block out his peripheral vision.

Asuka however would not grant his privacy that much respect. She threw a few glances his way, knowing he was completely incapable of seeing her look over him. After tracing her eyes up and down his body, she could honestly say he didn't look that bad. A little bit on the scrawny side, but overall she'd say he was cute in a respect. However there was one certain aspect about him that she didn't find up to par, but she was able to forgive it due to the chamber being so cold.

In the lab, Ritsuko watched over the thermal monitors of each Entry Plug as their respective pilots boarded them. All readings seemed to be normal. No foreign bodies were detected, and all systems appeared to be nominal.

They would not be piloting their own EVAs in this exercise. Instead they would be piloting submerged simulation EVA bodies, ones that were not too dissimilar to the ones they used in VR training. The main difference between them being that these bodies contained true nerve endings, unlike the VR bodies.

"Remember, this is an autopilot test." Dr. Akagi spoke, her voice coming out from the speakers inside the cockpits. "All you need to do is try to move the simulation EVA with your mind, as if its just an extension of your body."

"This feels really strange." Shinji chimed in as he lifted his right arm, looking over it as he wiggled his fingers. "Its like my arm is all tingly."

"Yeah, same." Asuka added. "Why do my feet feel so weird?"

"That's normal." Ritsuko reassured. "Actually, that's a good thing. It means your bodies are sharing the same nerve endings as the simulation body, instead of just merely being connected with them."

"Interesting." Rei murmured, flexing her fingers while looking into the palms of her hands. "It feels like I am becoming one with it."

Inside of the lab, Ritsuko grinned. This test was going phenomenally. The readings they were getting from this were amazing. They could see the pilot's bodies and brainwave activities were perfectly synchronized with that of their simulation bodies. The pilots could feel the water rushing up against their skin, the feeling of warmth that blanketed the mechanical figures, everything it could feel, they could feel as well.

Suddenly the rather silent laboratory was filled with a deafening ring from the alarm. Everyone quickly covered their hands over their ears and frantically looked around the room for the source of what was causing the siren to go off.

"Damn it!" Ritsuko slammed her fist onto the desk. "What is it now?!"

"Dr. Akagi!" Maya sounded nearly mortified. "We've detected a foreign body!"

"How?!" She shouted over the alarm. "All three of them were decontaminated!"

The engineer turned to face her superior, her eyes wide with terror. "It's not coming from the pilots. It's coming from the simulation body."

The head scientist became momentarily speechless. "Oh God…"

"Code Blue!" Makoto exclaimed. "It's an Angel!"

"Eject the pilots into the lake, now!"

Asuka, Shinji, and Rei could feel their connection with the simulation body severe completely, leaving them to feel nothing but the warmth of the LCL around them as their Entry Plugs shot out of the escape tubes. They could feel the sudden force press down on them as the plugs zoomed through the chute, then a sudden lightness once they went airborne, and finally a hard force when they landed in the water of the GeoFront's lake.

"What the hell was that?!" Asuka shot up from her seat, and pulled up the exterior view monitor to get a baring on their surroundings. "What are we doing in the lake?"

A screen lit up inside of her Entry Plug, revealing Shinji's face as he opened up the communication channel with her. "Asuka, are you alrig-"

The redhead let out a shriek, covering herself with her hands the best she could. Shinji quickly realized what he had done and averted his eyes in a desperate yet surprisingly challenging attempt to look away from her.

"Turn off your video feed, you pervert!" She screamed, her face turning ten shades of red. "Switch to audio only!"

"Sorry!" He sheepishly responded, quickly shutting off the video. After switching to audio only, there was a moment of silence that felt like a short eternity. "So I guess you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm alright!" Asuka snapped. "You pervert."

Shinji wanted to defend himself, but he knew there was nothing he could say or do except just wait for her to forgive him on her own. "What about you, Rei?"

"I'm alright." Her voice echoed through Asuka and Shinji's Entry Plugs.

"Do you have any idea what just happened?" He felt she would know better than anyone.

"There must've been something wrong with the simulation body for them to eject us like that."

The redhead leaned back in her seat, removing her hands from her chest. "Is that a bad thing?"

"It could be."

"Then we should probably go see what's wrong, shouldn't we?" The pilot of Unit 01 suggested.

"Do you wish to swim for half a kilometer in seventy meter deep water while in the nude?" Rei sounded far more serious than she should have.

"Uh… No."

"Then we should wait here until we are retrieved."

"How long could that take?" Asuka asked, fearing what the answer may be.

"Anywhere between thirty minutes to twelve hours."

The other two pilots expressed their disdain for Rei's words. Though they may not have liked it, it didn't seem like a farfetched answer. They had no idea what caused the malfunction with the simulation body. It could've been virtually anything from a minor hiccup in its mainframe to contamination.

"That's wonderful." Asuka huffed, throwing her hands up in the air before slapping them back down on her knees. "What the hell are we supposed to do until then?"

"We wait." She was not in the mood for one of Rei's typical responses.

"Well I'm not going to sit here on my ass for twelve hours without at least _some_ form of entertainment." She inwardly began to wish that she could materialize her handheld game device into the Entry Plug. Then the thought crossed her mind that it wouldn't last inside of the LCL filled pod. "Shinji." She called, leaning back in her seat while she rested her hands behind her head.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me a story." Ikari made a perplexed expression, which Asuka seemed to be able to see judging by her next sentence. "Don't just sit there with that stupid look on your face, tell me something!"

"Is… is your video feed still open?" He just had to ask.

Inside her Entry Plug, Asuka looked down at her feet where the monitor hovered above her. "_Maybe_."

Inside his cockpit, Shinji looked down and shook his head. For some reason he didn't feel any need to cover himself up. Probably because he figured she'd already stolen a few glances on the way to the Entry Plugs, and also because the video feed only showed him from the shoulders up as long as he remained seated.

"I can't believe you sometimes, Asuka." He sighed. "Maybe I should just turn on the monitor to your Entry Plug again."

She narrowed her eyes. "I dare you." Her tone matched her expression. There was a moment of silence between them. For the first time since he met her, Shinji actually almost felt like challenging her dare. Not necessarily because he wanted to get a cheap peak on her, but because he wanted to spite her.

He placed his finger over the button to reactivate the video feed to Asuka's Entry Plug, but found himself just unable to allow for his index finger to apply the pressure needed. "You win." He sighed in defeat.

"Ha!" She laughed, savoring her small victory. "Now tell me a story."

"Why do you want me to tell you a story so badly?"

"Because if Wondergirl is right and we're going to be here for twelve hours, then I need some entertainment." She smirked. "And honestly the entertainment I'm looking at right now isn't anything special."

"Hey!" He snapped, feeling more offended than embarrassed. After a moment, he just let the remark go. "Alright, fine." He agreed, disgruntlement clear in his tone. "What type of story do you want to here?"

"I dunno." She shrugged. "Tell me about what you did before you became an EVA Pilot, tell me Steppenwolf, tell me a story you just made up off the top of your head. I don't care. I just need something to keep me occupied."

"Oh." He replied, scratching his head. "I guess I can tell you about what I did before I came to Tokyo-3."

"I'm all ears."

"It's kinda boring though."

"Then maybe it'll put me to sleep and make the next twelve hours go by faster."

He smirked at her comment. "Alright, well…" He started. "I don't remember too much about my childhood, honestly." He shrugged. "Actually, I can't remember much of anything before Dad sent me away to live with my teacher." He stopped for a moment, expecting Asuka to make a smart remark, however nothing came from her but silence. "All I know is that my Mom died not long before my Dad sent me away." Inside of Asuka's Plug, she felt a nerve twitch at his words. "I don't remember much about her though." He laughed. "Hell, I can't even remember her face. All I can really remember about her is her voice." He could practically hear her soft words ringing through his ears as he spoke. "I just wish I could remember more about he-"

"What happened after she died?" Asuka cut him off. Her tone almost sounded the slightest bit frantic, as though she wanted him to hurry with the story.

"Oh, well I lived with my Dad for about a year and he sent me to live with my teacher, Mr. Nagano."

"Tell me about him?"

Shinji couldn't help but be a bit taken back by her eagerness to learn more about his past. "He was nice, I guess." He leaned back in his seat, looking up at the monitors above him as he tried to think back to the days of his early youth. "But he never really cared about having me around. When he heard my Dad wanted me here in Tokyo-3, he told me to pack my bags and go."

"Wow." Asuka smirked. "Nobody wanted you, did they?"

"No." He shook his head in solemn. "I guess not." There was a momentarily silence between the two before Shinji turned to face the camera, figuring Asuka was watching him. "What about you?" He asked. "What did you do before becoming an EVA pilot?"

"I told you already." She shrugged. "I was training since I was eight years old."

"Well what about before that?" The redhead felt a little bit of a twist in her stomach. Whenever that period of her life was brought up, that was always her gut reaction.

"Tell me about your Dad and your Stepmother." He emphasized.

"Wait a second!" She shot out of her seat. "How did you know I had a stepmother?"

"You told me, remember?"

She cocked her head slightly. "I… I did?" Asuka began scavenging her mind, trying to recall when she had told him about her.

"You told me before going into the volcano."

"Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "Yeah." A faint smile crossed her face. "Good memory Shinji. Maybe you're not as dumb as I thought you were." Shinji could've made a remark, but Asuka seemed to be in a better mood than before, so he chose not to ruin it. "There really isn't that much to talk about, but if you really want to know, I'll try." The pilot of Unit 02 rested her right arm on her forehead while she looked up at the monitors above her. "My Papa is a chemical engineer, and my Stepmama is a medical doctor. Pretty boring if you ask me." She closed her eyes and let the blanket of darkness shroud her as she continued speaking. "Papa has always been obsessed with his work, and Stepmama is always worrying about me."

"Most parents would be worried if their kids were piloting giant robots and fighting monsters." Shinji interjected, almost jokingly.

"It's not like that." She shook her head. "She was always afraid of me. Even when I was really little, she was absolutely terrified to be around me."

"Why?" Ikari asked..

"She was intimidated by me." Asuka's condescending tone started rearing its ugly head. "She thought it wasn't healthy for a girl my age to be so smart and mature."

"I'm sure there was more to it than that." Shinji replied.

"Maybe." She opened her eyes. "But then again, she's not my real mama anyways, so why should I care?"

"What happened to…" Asuka cut him off.

"If it's all the same to you Shinji, I'd rather not talk about it."

There was a brief moment of silence between the two before Shinji responded. "Okay. I understand." He nodded. "I guess its safe to say we're in the same boat, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are." Asuka was starting to feel her mind trail off in a direction she wasn't particularly fond of venturing to, so she quickly started to change the direction of the conversation. "So Wondergirl," She called. "Don't think we've forgotten about you. What did you do before becoming an EVA pilot?"

Ayanami's eyes widened briefly and then went back to normal. She wasn't expecting to be pulled into the conversation like this. "I…" She opened the book that was her mind, trying to recover the information that had long since been lost. "I do not remember. Training to become an EVA pilot is all I've ever known."

"Of course it is." Asuka murmured to herself. "Hey, Rei." She decided to drop the conversation, as it was pretty clear they were going to get nowhere with it. "How long have we been out here, anyways?"

"Less than ten minutes."

Shinji and Asuka groaned in unison, though Asuka was much more vocal about her displeasure. They both looked up, blankly staring at the monitors, wishing they could just fast forward though time. Unfortunately it seemed that there was going to be a very, very, very long wait ahead of them.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kaji sat next to Major Katsuragi at the cafeteria table and stretched his arms while the three EVA pilots received a synopsis of the events that had unfolded that day from Misato. For nearly six hours they sat in their Entry Plugs completely oblivious to the events that were occurring inside of NERV HQ. Once they heard what had happened though, the pilots found themselves to be quite unsurprised by the news.

"So wait a second," Asuka stopped her guardian as she took a bite out of her sandwich. "there was an Angel inside of the simulation bodies?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Then it took over the Magi system as a computer virus of sorts."

"And then Dr. Akagi made it delete itself?"

"To put it bluntly, yeah. Something like that."

"Such a remarkable woman, that Dr. Akagi." Kaji smirked, getting an as expected reaction from Misato, yet not quite what he expected from Asuka. She only seemed to be little more than just slightly fazed by his comment. He found it rather strange for her to not be simmering red with jealousy, or trying to cling to him to force his attention onto her. Instead all he got was a quick yet stern glance from her.

He had never been so relieved in his life.

"So what about the autopilot test?" Asuka started to change the subject. "Don't tell me I have to go through decontamination again."

The lavender haired woman shook her head. "Ritsuko received all the information she needed. You won't have to do that again."

"Thank God." The pilot of Unit 02 sighed in relief. "That means I won't have to worry about this pervert taking cheap peaks at me again." She nudged at Shinji, who was sitting next to her.

His face turned a light red, and he dropped his fork onto the plate. "Coming from you!"

Asuka turned to him, her face just as red as Shinji's. She began to wonder if he actually realized she was taking glances at him in the decontamination chamber. "I.. I.. I don't know what you're talking about." She inwardly cursed at herself, wondering why she didn't just snap and yell at him like normal. Then he'd just drop the subject.

She was starting to get soft.

"You were watching me through the Entry Plug's video feed!"

She could feel her heart start beating again. She'd almost forgotten about that. Asuka found it just the slightest bit cute that he really thought she had been watching him through the monitors. "Mein Gott! How could you accuse me of doing such a thing?" She figured she could at least have a little fun with him.

"Because you were!" He pointed his finger at her in an accusatory manner.

"_Me?_" She pointed to herself, eyes wide as if she were shocked by his accusation. "If I recall correctly, it was _you_ who peaked in on _my_ Entry Plug." Asuka pointed her own finger to Shinji and poked him in the chest.

"Shinji!" Misato snapped, her tone matching that of a disappointed parent. "I thought you were better than that!"

All strength in Shinji's voice and body language started to abandon him, and fast. "But I didn't… But she… And I was…" Katsuragi merely shook her head in deep disapproval, causing Shinji to lower his in defeat.

Kaji chuckled to himself. He knew Asuka well enough to tell when she was actually upset. This wasn't one of those times. If anything, she seemed like she was almost enjoying herself. From what he could see, the only thing she seemed to be mad about was that Shinji wasn't picking up on her cues.

"You should be ashamed of yourself." Asuka crossed her arms and stuck her nose up in a snooty manner. "Stupid Shinji."

"There you go with that pet name again." Kaji interjected. "I've got to say, its really cute." He could see the German girl's face go pale, and then dark red. Kaji laughed at the site of his pupil's embarrassment. He figured he could at least have a little fun with her.

XXXXXXXXXX

The blanket of night had shrouded Tokyo-3, yet even so Shinji remained awake, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling of his room. He had been laying there for what felt like hours, just staring at the blank white plaster above him in hopes that eventually he would drift away to sleep. His Walkman had reached the end of the tape, but he had failed to notice. His mind was so far off that to call him conscious would've been debatable.

He was quickly snapped back into reality upon hearing the sound of footsteps outside his room. He threw his eyes to the door, listening as they made their way into the living room, where they were then followed by the sound of the glass door to the veranda opening up.

Slowly, he rolled out of his bed and quietly made his way to the door to investigate. He peaked into the living room and saw all the lights were still out. Silently, he tiptoed into the room and peered his head around the corner to look through the glass door leading outside. He could see Asuka standing idly on the balcony, still in her pajamas as she rested her hands on the railing while the crescent moon illuminated her through the darkness of night.

Past her, he could see what he thought was movement in the sky. He gazed towards the moonlight, catching the silhouettes of the figures. Framed by the luminous glow, he could make out little black specks moving across the sky. Upon closer inspection he could see their wings stretched out as the group of little black specs flew in a circular pattern over a small patch of trees off in the distance.

"Vultures?" Ikari stepped forward into the living room to get a better look. It was unlike them to come out at night, however the ecosystem had been so horribly savaged after Second Impact that strange behavior like this was almost expected from the wildlife these days.

His hazel eyes watched as the scavengers continued to circle over their prey, awaiting for death's embrace to take it. There was something almost trance-like about watching them fly in their endless circles while the moon contrasted against their black forms.

Cautiously, Shinji made his way to the glass door and slid it open, warranting little reaction from Asuka as he did so. She kept her sight directed straight ahead of her at the birds looming over their meal.

"What are you doing up?" Shinji asked, his tone a bit hushed.

"I couldn't sleep." She answered, not even turning to face him. "What about you?" She just slightly tilted her head his way, giving him a half-glance. "What are you still doing up?"

"Same." He replied, inching his way outside, keeping the door opened in case the redhead wanted him gone. "Do you mind if I…"

"No." She sounded nearly void of emotion. "I don't mind."

Ikari nodded and slid the door shut before walking up next to her, leaning against the railing just as she was. "Are those vultures?"

"Yeah."

"They don't normally come out at night, do they?"

"No." Asuka shook her head. "But we don't live in a normal world, do we?"

"I guess not."

Shinji looked closely at her face. She looked tired. Not in a sleepy way, but in a mentally drained kind of way. Her lips hung low in a frown and her eyes remained empty of any discernable emotion. This was a side of her he'd never seen before. Normally her emotions were always exaggerated and powerful. She was like a counterbalance to Rei of sorts. Right now though, she just looked like she had no more emotions give.

"I hate them."

Shinji could see her narrow her eyes as she looked up to the moon. "Hate what?"

"Vultures." She growled, though not at him. "They sit there and wait for helpless creatures to die before swooping in to eat them. Sometimes they don't even wait for them to die. Sometimes they just wait until their prey is so weak that they can't even fight back, and then they eat them alive." Shinji stood by quietly, looking at the sheer hatred lighting her sapphire eyes. "They're disgusting."

"Are you alright, Asuka?" He stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, a bit surprised when she didn't immediately brush him off.

"I'm fine." The redhead kept her glare at the birds. "I'm just tired. That's all."

"Why don't you go to bed then?"

"You can go back inside if you want, Shinji." She replied in a cold tone. "You don't have to wait for me."

"No." He removed his hand from her shoulder and leaned forward on the railing, feeling the warm Summer breeze blow against his face. "I don't feel like being alone right now, to be honest."

A grin started to show itself on Asuka's face. "That's okay." She replied. "neither do I."

Giving little more than a nod, Shinji turned his gaze back to the moon as the swarm of vultures swooped down into the tree line. Together they stood for a few minutes in silence, looking up at the moon and the stars. After a while though, Asuka could begin feeling the effects of her tiredness sinking in. Shinji could as well.

Coming to a mutual agreement that their stargazing had to come to an end, the two headed back inside. On the way to their rooms, they didn't exchange a word to one another. Once they got to their doors though, Shinji was stopped as two words rang through his ears.

"Goodnight, Shinji."

He turned around to see the redhead standing in front of her bedroom, her back turned to him.

"Goodnight, Asuka." He replied "Sleep well, alright?"

"You too." Her back remained turned to him.

Shinji nodded before heading into his room and closing the door. It had been a long day, and he started finally feeling the effects of it the second he laid down on his bed. Not only that, but he truly felt as though he could get a goodnight's sleep. He hadn't had one of those in quite a while.

XXXXXXXXXX

General Hamada rubbed his forehead and squinted his eyes, looking down at the blueprint that laid across the table. Before him sat a hologram of the elderly Chairmen Keel Lorenz of SEELE. His ever present scowl was quite visible from where the General was sitting. He lowered his hand and lifted his head to face the Chairmen, still dumbfounded by the news.

"Mass production of Evangelion Units?" He knew his efforts to oppose the idea would be in vain, but his opinion had to be voiced. "The JSSDF is already on edge enough as it is with NERV housing three of those bastards. What makes you think the world would settle for ten more of them?"

"Twelve." Keel corrected, his expression not changing.

"Even worse!" He couldn't hide the resentment in his tone. "And you plan to pilot them with computers? I have enough trouble trusting those monsters in the hands of humans, much less robots!"

Keel remained silent for a moment, and then leaned forward over his desk, folding his hands together. "General Hamada, I think you fail to understand our intent for these EVA Units." Hamada paused as he leaned back in his chair. "We do not plan on using these Units. They will merely be a deterrent for NERV once the Angels are destroyed."

"Then what's going to deter SEELE?"

"You needn't worry about that." Keel unclasped his hands. "Your job is to keep the peace in Japan, not the world at large." With that, the hologram shut off, leaving Hamada alone as a single light shone down onto him while the rest of the room remained in nothing but abyssal darkness.

His eyes fell back to the blueprint of the proposed EVA Unit that sat on his desk. The outline resembled that of a human skeleton, save for the narrowed ribcage and the oddly shaped head. By the blueprints it looked as though its face was nothing but an elongated mouth. Hamada traced his eyes over its featureless head, and even with a lack of aesthetic detail he was still able to make out one telltale part of its visage that sent shivers down his spine.

It had a smile.

A sick, twisted smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Wake up dummkoph, we're going to be late for school!" Shinji shot up from his bed and looked over at the door to see Asuka glaring at him while her head peeked through the crack. "Well don't just sit there, Stupid Shinji! We've got to go!"

Ikari kept his vacant stare directed at her, taking a moment to find his words. "Y.. you waited for me?" He sounded more confused than surprised. "Don't you normally leave without me?"

The redhead rolled her eyes. "You can gawk over my never ending pool of generosity later. Now get up!" She roared before slamming the door shut. Shinji made a faint grin as he pulled himself out of bed and grabbed a clean school uniform from his dresser. He had a strong feeling today would be a good day. He had gotten a goodnight sleep, he felt that he was ready for both his math test at school as well as his synch test at NERV. Not only that, but Asuka seemed to be in a pretty good mood too. Relatively speaking, at least.

The moment he stepped out of his room, he felt a snag on his arm as his roommate began dragging him to the door. "Asuka!" He yelped. "I need to brush my teeth and…" He stopped the moment he heard the redhead groan.

"Well hurry up!" She let go of his arm, watching him dash to the bathroom the second he was free of her grasp. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot while she waited for him. She could hear the sound of him gargling water and franticly brushing his teeth. After rushing through his morning rituals, Shinji darted back out of the bathroom and met Asuka at the front door, who quickly rushed him outside, shutting the door behind them as they made their way to school.

Misato peered her head around the corner and looked down the hall after hearing all the commotion. "Where are they going so early?" She asked herself before returning to the kitchen and taking a seat at the table, where she took a sip of her coffee.

She flipped through some of the paperwork on the table while finishing up her pitiful excuse for a breakfast. Most of the paperwork was just trivial forms and documents that came standard with every abnormal synch test like the one they had planned for today.

She took in a deep breath and exhaled, feeling a faint chill of worry run up her arm and through her neck. For purposes that still remained rather ambiguous to her, Ritsuko wanted to test the pilots in Units other than their own, or at least Shinji and Rei.

Katsuragi felt a slight discomfort at the thought, feeling as though the risks couldn't possibly outweigh the rewards that could be gained from this experiment. If the Magi were correct, Unit 01 would be incredibly finicky with a different pilot and could possibly react violently to them. Unit 00 was just a mess all around. Ever since it went berserk with Rei inside, Misato always felt a tinge of worry whenever the EVA started up.

"I swear to God Ritsuko," Major Katsuragi put down her mug. "nothing better happen to those kids."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Asuka?" Shinji muttered, scanning his eyes up and down the unfamiliar street. "I don't think this is the way to school."

"Of course its not, you dolt." She replied, continuing down the sidewalk. "We're playing hooky."

Ikari went momentarily wide eyed at her response. "Hooky? You mean we're skipping school?!"

"Yup." She sounded very nonchalant about it.

"You tricked me!" He exclaimed, coming to a sudden stop. "You said we were going to be late!"

"Yeah, I lied to get you out of bed. So what?" She stopped as well, turning around to face him.

"But we have a math test today!" He pivoted on his right heel and tried to start dashing down the sidewalk. His advanced was ceased the moment the redhead's firm grip grasped his collar though.

"Not so fast, Shinji."

"Let me go!" He tried to push her arm away, but her hand remained clasped down.

"Oh c'mon." She edged. "For all we know Armageddon could be tomorrow. Live a little, will ya?"

"No!" He exclaimed. "I have to get to class!"

He could hear Asuka groan in disgust. "Fine." He felt her grip suddenly loosen, causing him to stumble forward, barely managing to catch himself. "If you want to go take your stupid math test, then be my guest." Shinji turned around to see her sticking her nose up at him in her all too familiar snooty manner. "_I'm_ going out to have fun." She tilted her head down and looked at him with a smirk, the morning sun shimmering behind her. "Who knows? Maybe I'll meet some pretty cool guys who are nowhere near as boring as _you_."

"Guys?" Shinji could feel a little twist in his stomach.

"Yes." Her smile turned devilish. "Guys."

Despite Asuka's constant insistence that he was, Shinji wasn't stupid. He could tell when she was trying to push him to do what she wanted. Then again, he still felt this unnerving feeling after hearing her words. Perhaps if he had enough time he could've fought through the feeling, but after seeing Asuka turn around and continue making her way to downtown Tokyo-3, the unnerving twist in his stomach began to form into a lump.

"Wait for me, Asuka!" He exclaimed, running to catch up with her. The entire way he couldn't help but mentally kick himself for how much he was playing into her hand, but at least he could no longer feel the lump in his gut.

The pilot of Unit 02 didn't say anything initially. At first she remained standoffish, if only to get under Shinji's skin. After watching him grovel for a bit though, she was kind enough to grace him with her acknowledgment. Soon that acknowledgment then turned to conversation as they continued down the street.

"So, do you know of any places to hang out at?" The redhead asked, pulling out a tourist map from her pocket which she brought with her for today's extracurricular activities.

"Can't say I do." He answered sheepishly, placing his hands in his pockets.

"Of course you don't." Her tone didn't hold any malice or ill will. If anything she just sounded disinterested. "Ooo!" A light shone in her eyes as they gazed across the map. "There's a movie theater two blocks from here!"

"I don't have any money." Shinji looked down at the ground, brushing the sole of his shoe against the sidewalk.

"So?" Asuka shrugged. "I don't either."

Ikari raised his eyes to her, a slightly perplexed expression covering his face. "Then how are we going to get in?"

The redhead rolled her eyes. "What are you? Stupid?" She groaned. "We're going to sneak in."

"Sneak in?"

"Oh my God!" Her palm came crashing into her forehead. "Which are you, Shinji? Stupid, or just the most boring person in the world?"

"Umm…" He started, treading carefully as to not irritate her even more. "Boring, I guess."

"Thank God." Asuka sighed in what sounded to be relief as she grabbed his arm and dragged him along with her. "I can fix boring."

Shinji felt a tinge in his gut at her words. "What's that supposed to mean?!" He jerked his arm away from her, causing for Asuka to shoot back. Her eyes remained locked on Shinji's, but her expression gave way to confusion more than anger. "Are you saying I'm broken or something?!"

Asuka's eyes widened just a bit, surprised to see the snake show its fangs again. He hadn't lashed out at her like this in a while, and she'd nearly forgotten he was even capable of doing that. After staring him down for a moment, she closed her eyes and exhaled before opening them again.

"No." Her tone was so calm that Ikari found it nearly unsettling. "I'm not saying you're broken, Stupid Shinji. I'm just saying you need to live a little. Get a little bit of excitement in your life."

"That's not what you made it sound like." For the first time since she'd ever met him, Shinji actually sounded hurt. Asuka kept her ice blue eyes locked onto his, biting her lower lip as she tried to think of what to say.

"Fine." She huffed, crossing her arms. "What do _you_ want to do instead?"

"Well, I'd like to get to class before they start the test."

The redhead threw her arms up in defeat, and let them fall to her sides. After all the thought and planning she'd put into what was supposed to be their fun little day of playing hooky, Shinji was going to ruin it all by chickening out. "Alright. Fine." She sighed. "We'll go to school."

A slight grin emerged on Ikari's face. "Thanks, Asuka."

"Yeah, yeah." She sounded just the slightest bit irritated that all her time and effort had gone to waste. At least they left Misato's apartment early, which meant they wouldn't be _as_ late for school.

The two teens turned around and headed towards the school, both of them remaining relatively silent the entire way. It wasn't that there was nothing to talk about. It was just that neither one of them could find it in themselves to speak to the other. Shinji was still stuck on her insinuation that he was broken, and Asuka was still trying to shake off the disappointment of her plans being shot down. By the time they stepped into the school, it felt like they had been walking for somewhere between forever and eternity.

XXXXXXXXXX

The beeps and chirps of the lab's computers rang through Ritsuko's ears while she looked over Rei's synch score with Unit 01. Behind her, Misato stood looking out the window to the testing chamber with worry. She had insisted that Dr. Akagi delay the test for another time, especially after the incident from the day before. However, Akagi's reasoning for going through with the experiment did have a significant amount of weight to it.

Commander Ikari made it clear to all of them that SEELE could not know about the incident. If they were to find out that an Angel had infiltrated NERV Headquarters so easily, then they'd be finished. SEELE was already onto them as it was, and for NERV to cease their day-to-day activities to allow time to recoup from the attack would just raise too much suspicion with the Committee.

In the testing chamber, Unit 01 remained motionless while Rei sat inside. The A10 connections were on, and so far all seemed to be going well. The blue haired girl looked around the inside of the unfamiliar Entry Plug, taking in her surroundings. Being in Unit 01 was a very alien feeling for her. The layout and design of the plug was no different than Unit 00's, yet everything felt different about it. The indention in the seat, the feeling of the controls, even the smell seemed different amidst the pool of LCL.

"How's it going in there, Rei?" Ritsuko asked, trying to pass the time before the results came in.

Ayanami slowly looked over to the video feed to Ritsuko. "It smells like… Ikari." Suddenly, Rei's ears were met by a grating snarl.

"It smells like what?!" Asuka's voice ripped through her ears, causing her to cringe. Rei shot her crimson eyes over to Unit 02, which stood to her left. Inside of the EVA Unit, Asuka was starting to go on one of her overly hostile rants. "How would you even know what Stupid Shinji smells like?!" Though Shinji couldn't see it, he knew the redhead's glare was now looking past Unit 01 and staring directly into Unit 00, where he remained seated.

"Asuka," Dr. Akagi snapped. "stop. You're being obnoxious."

Soryu reared her head to the monitor where the blonde scientist's face could be seen, and shot a death glare at her. Akagi paid no mind to this as she severed the connection, leaving Asuka with nothing to look at but a black screen.

"Bitch." Asuka cursed under her breath.

"Alright Rei," Ritsuko spoke into the microphone. "your readings are coming back loud and clear. You may leave now."

"Roger." She nodded, opening the Entry Plug and stepping out onto the catwalk while the LCL drained onto the blank white floor below. As she made her way down the catwalk, an elevator began lifting the purple mech up to the cages, leaving only Unit 02 and Unit 00 in the chamber.

"These readings are amazing." Maya gasped in wonderment, staring at the screen. "This is almost as high as her synch ratio in Unit 00!"

"Then it looks like we can move onto the next phase of the Dummy System." Ritsuko added, though it was more so directed at herself rather than Maya.

"The Dummy System?" The engineer sounded hesitant about the idea. "Are you sure we can begin development of the Dummy Plug with just this information?"

"I'm sure." She nodded. "Have the Magi transfer all data to Terminal Dogma."

"Yes m'am." Maya replied. Though she herself felt that it was too early to begin the next step of the plan, she trusted Dr. Akagi more than anyone else. If Ritsuko felt that now was the time to begin, then she'd follow through with her, regardless of her personal feelings about it.

The head scientist turned her gaze back to Asuka's blank monitor and flipped it on, catching sight of the redhead looking out the side of her cockpit, watching Rei make her way from the catwalk to the lab.

"We're beginning your synch test, Asuka." She said to the pilot of Unit 02.

"Okay." Her reply was short and abrupt.

The scientist looked over the readings as they came in, not the least bit surprised to see that they were perfectly normal for the pilot of Unit 02. "Alright Asuka, everything is normal." Ritsuko's voice rang through her cockpit. "You can leave now."

"Of course I'm normal." She grumbled. "Say," The redhead raised her head up to Ritsuko's monitor. "why do Rei and Shinji get to pilot other EVAs, but I don't?" A scowl started to cross her face. "Am I not good enough?"

Ritsuko was lightly pushed to the side as Misato came into view. She could tell when the feisty teenager was on the brink of acting out for no reason other than to bring attention to herself. "Because we figured you wouldn't like to pilot another EVA, much less let someone else pilot your Unit 02."

"I'd let Shinji pilot Unit 02." Asuka retorted. She wasn't lying either.

"That's a test we can have another day." Ritsuko's tone sounded like she was getting fed up with the redhead. "You can leave your EVA now."

"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes, opening the cockpit and stepping onto the catwalk. Instead of heading towards the lab though, she remained in the chamber. She was still feeling a little hot after Rei's comment about the smell of Shinji's Entry Plug, and figured it'd be best if they remained in separate rooms for the time being.

"Are you ready, Shinji?" Dr. Akagi asked the young pilot as he looked around the Entry Plug of Unit 00, just as Rei and done in Unit 01.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I think I'm ready." Once Maya flipped on the A10 connectors, Shinji instantly found himself in a strange mental void. It was as though anything and everything around him had become nothing, and all that existed was himself and the darkness around him.

He could see flashes of Rei flicker before his eyes while he remained motionless in this black void. From all around him he could hear echoes of her voice ringing not just through his ears, but through his entire body..

"Rei." He murmured.

Asuka could hear him through the external speakers, and she could feel her blood beginning to boil. "Of course he's thinking about _her_." She hissed.

Slowly, the flickers of the blue haired girl grew closer and closer to him. With each flash, her form would shift just a little bit nearer. Shinji could see her eyes were shrouded by the shadows of her bangs, and her posture remained stiff and frigid. As she grew closer to Ikari, he could feel a sense of worry tingle down his spine. Why was she coming so close to him? Why was he in this void? Why was she so… frightening.

With another flash, Rei appeared nose to nose with him. Her eyes were wide, and her expression looked nearly psychotic with a sick smile that twisted across her face. It was at this point that Shinji began to realize that it was not the shrouds of her bangs that concealed her eyes in darkness, but whether it was that her eyes were solid black. No pupils, no iris, nothing. They were nothing but little black voids inside her head.

Shinji remained frozen as this mortifying version of Rei leaned forward, her lips merely inches away from his right ear. "This isn't your EVA." Her whispered words slithered inside him like a worm burrowing into a corpse. "You don't belong here."

Suddenly, Unit 00 came to life inside of the testing chamber. It reared its head back and clasped its hands around its head as though it were having some sort of mental breakdown. On the catwalk, Asuka jumped back and yelped.

"What the hell?!" She ran up to the railing and looked down at the mech as it began thrashing about.

"Cut it off!" Katsuragi barked at Maya, who was frantically typing away at her keyboard.

"I can't!" She screamed. "The nerve connections have been severed! This is just like last time!"

Ritsuko spun around to face the engineer. "Then pull the umbilical cable!"

The giant cord detached from Unit 00 while it continued swinging its body about wildly, making a deep bellow as it did so. Its head began swaying left and right, as though it was looking for something. Then once its giant cyclopean eye caught sight of Rei standing at the window between the laboratory and the chamber, it zeroed in on her.

"Rei, get back!" Misato rushed forward as the EVA drew a fist back and slammed it into the window, sending giant spider-web fractures throughout the reinforced glass. The sudden trembling caused for Major Katsuragi to trip before she could reach the blue haired pilot and pull her to safety. "Move, God damn it!" She shouted.

Her calls went out in vain. Rei continued to stand in front of the window, as though she was idly waiting for the mech to break through the glass and kill her. Another hit crashed into the window, followed by another. Somehow the glass managed to withstand the blows, but there was no way it could take another hit. Unit 00 pulled its fist back one more time, taking careful aim at its target. Once it had Rei in its sights, it began to lunge forward, throwing its fist with all of its might and power at the window.

"Shinji, you idiot!" Asuka's words echoed throughout the chamber, causing for Unit 00 to come to a sudden halt, its knuckles just a meter or so away from the fractured glass. The EVA turned around to look up at the catwalk and gazed at the redhead for a brief moment before its excess power shut down, and the EVA slumped forward.

"Eject the Entry Plug!" Ritsuko commanded.

Unit 00's Entry Plug shot out of the back of the EVA's neck, and crashed onto the floor. Up in the catwalk, Asuka felt a sudden wave of dread hit her when the sound of crashing metal on metal echoed through her ears.

"Sheisse!" She cursed in her native tongue before running to the nearest ladder. She gripped the sides of the ladder and began sliding all the way down to the bottom of the chamber. As she sprinted to his ejected Entry Plug, Asuka could hear Misato and Ritsuko over the loudspeaker imploring her not to try to open the Entry Plug. Their warnings went unheard.

She grasped her hands around the latch, feeling the searing heat radiate through her plugsuit and onto her hands. The redhead gritted her teeth as she pulled the hatch open, ignoring the pain. A pool of blood red LCL soaked the floor around her feet the second it flew open. Asuka could faintly hear Dr. Akagi making another plea for her to not go into the Entry Plug, but just as before, she ignored her warning.

"Asu…ka?" Her ice blue eyes shot over at Shinji as he called out to her. He looked a little banged up, but nothing too disastrous. Remembering the basic medical training she received during her pursuit in become an EVA pilot, Asuka ran up to him and looked over both of his ears to make sure there was no bleeding, and then very gingerly placed her hands on the back of his neck and head. To her relief, all she found was a nasty lump on the back of his cranium.

"How many fingers am I holding up, Shinji?" She asked, holding up her thumb, index, and middle finger.

"Three." He answered, rubbing his head. "What happened?"

"You were in Unit 00, and it went crazy." She answered, reaching for an emergency med kit inside of an airtight compartment aboard the Entry Plug.

"Unit 00?" He looked genuinely confused. "Why was I in Unit 00?"

Asuka frowned as she pulled out a cold pack. "Looks like you have some short term memory loss. I guess that should be expected after hitting the back of your head like that."

"Is that why my head hurts?" Shinji started to rub the knot above his neck, hissing in pain once he felt it.

"Don't touch it." Asuka pulled his hand away from his head and held the pack against the lump while resting her other hand on his forehead to keep him from squirming around. "You're not bleeding. That's all you need to know."

Behind her, she could hear the medical team rushing up to the Entry Plug. "Ms. Soryu, you need to step aside." One of the medical officers said, stepping inside of the plug.

"He's fine." She turned her head to face him, realizing that he was wearing a hazmat suit. However, she kept her hands where they were. "He's just concussed. Grade One. I can take him to the med wing once he's able to get up and walk."

"Sorry Ms. Soryu." He shook his head. "We have to check both of you for contamination."

"Are you serious?" She groaned before turning back to Shinji. "Alright, look Shinji." She brought his eyes back up to hers. "They're going to take care of you, okay?"

"B..but Asuka…" He started to trail off once she removed her hand from the back of his head, allowing for someone on the medical team to take her place. Shinji watched as the redhead stepped out of the Entry Plug where she was met by three other men in hazmat suits who guided her out of the chamber.

XXXXXXXXXX

Gendo folded his hands in front of his mouth, looking across his large, empty office. Fuyutsiki stood by his side, his hands clasped behind his back like always. It had been about five minutes since Ritsuko delivered the news that they would begin assembling the Dummy Plug prototype. This was happening far sooner than expected, and in turn could mean Commander Ikari's plans would be coming together sooner whether than later.

"I don't like this." Fuyutsiki expressed, breaking the silence between them. "It's happening too quickly."

Gendo remained silent, not giving the Vice Commander a response. Fuyutsiki expected as much. He knew that once Commander Ikari had his mind set on something, there was no going back. In truth that is what he feared the most about Ikari. His inability to see the dangers of what lay ahead of him, or perhaps he just hand an inability to care about them.

"Unit 00 sustained little damage in its outburst a few hours ago, so I'm having Rei take the Spear to Terminal Dogma." Ikari spoke, not even acknowledging Fuyutiki's concerns.

"Hopefully it'll stay down there." The Vice Commander replied.

Hundreds of meters below the two, Unit 00 trudged through the black and red halls of the bottommost layer of NERV Headquarters while a long red lance remained fitted tightly in its grasp. The handle was long and sleek, while the end of it spiraled into a serpentine pattern until it split off into two sharp points.

The exact nature of the weapon Rei held in her hands remained somewhat of a mystery to her. However it was not her duty to understand what it was she was tampering with. Her duty was only to follow her orders through to the end without question. It didn't matter to her what this weapon was or where it came from. What mattered was that it needed to be taken to Terminal Dogma, where it was to remain until it was needed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Asuka groaned as she went through the third round of decontamination. The heavy spray of water mixed in with numerous other chemicals drenched her body, cleansing her of any and all possible foreign bodies. She couldn't imagine Shinji was having any more fun than she was. Having these high powered faucets screaming as they soaked him couldn't have been the best thing to do right after receiving a concussion.

"He'll live." She huffed, as though to force herself to suspend all worry about him. "Besides, its not like he's the only one who got hurt." She looked down at her hands. The heat from his Entry Plug had worked its way through to her skin, and left red marks on her palms. They'd have to be bandaged up after decontamination, but she was certain they wouldn't leave any scars behind.

She pressed her forearm against the wall and rested her head on it. She tried to relax, but all she kept seeing was Unit 00 going berserk. It looked like it was just blind with rage until it saw Rei, then it acted as though it had purpose, as though it had found its goal.

It wanted to kill Rei.

Why would it want to kill its own pilot though? What could she have done to Unit 00 that caused it to act so strangely like that? Something about all this rubbed her the wrong way. Shinji and Rei swap EVAs for a synch test, but she doesn't? Unit 01 works fine, but 00 goes crazy? There were a lot of questions that she had for Dr. Akagi, but she knew none of them would ever be answered by her. However one question stood out stronger than any of the others. One question that had been itching in her mind ever since she got to NERV Headquarters.

"What the hell are you, Rei?"


	7. 06

Asuka leaned against the wall of the school's hallway, and propped her broom up next to her. She hated being selected for cleaning duty. This wasn't something she ever had to deal with back when she went to school in Germany. Of course then again, her schooling in Germany wasn't exactly traditional. She spent a whole quarter of a year in middle school before being bumped up to high school, and only a year there before transferring into college.

She contemplated giving Kaji a call, but she just wasn't feeling it. She couldn't help but notice that her infatuation for her mentor had severely declined ever since she had arrived in Japan. It wasn't a sudden thing either. It was just something that just had slowly but surely worked its way out of her system. It started with her simply using him as a form of attention, then it devolved into her using him just to get a rise out of Shinji, and now she could barely think of him as anything more than her teacher. However she still wouldn't hesitate to admit that he was quite handsome.

The redhead looked down at her bandaged hands, which still hadn't fully healed after the incident with Unit 00. At least she was beginning to have feeling return to them. Her fingerprints were still pretty messed up though, which had led to a lot of issues with some of NERV's I.D. scanners over the past few days. It had just gotten to a point that she'd decided to start using the optic scanners. They hurt her eyes, but it was better than trying each of her digits until one of them appeared recognizable enough for the scanners to let her though.

Asuka peered her head inside the classroom, taking a look at Shinji and Toji sweeping up some dirt in the far corner of the room. The two seemed to be talking about something, though there was too much noise in the hall for her to hear what it was. She kept her gaze on the pilot of Unit 01 for a moment, thinking back to the incident. Shinji seemed to be recovering quite well. The welt on his head was still there, and was still quite noticeable. However it didn't look like his concussion was going to leave any long term effects, so there was that at least.

"Whatcha lookin' at, Asuka?" Hikari's voice caught her attention, causing her to jump a bit.

"Nothing." She turned to face the Class Rep. "Just thinking about something. That's all."

"Oh, okay." The brunette seemed like she had something on her mind, judging by her tone. "Hey, um… Asuka?"

She inwardly sighed. Though she hadn't known Hikari for the longest time, she had been around her long enough to be able to tell when she was going to ask something of her. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you."

"Sure, go ahead."

Hikari's eyes shot to her left and right before bringing her head closer to Asuka's, placing her lips right next to her ear. "One of my older sister's friends has a huge crush on you. He was wondering if I could convince you to go out on a date with him." She whispered, having to hide her schoolgirl giggle.

"What?!" The redhead jumped back, she didn't expect for Hikari to be asking this sort of thing of her. "A date?!"

The Class Rep folded her hands together in a pleading manner. "Oh please, Asuka? Just one date? He's a great guy, really!"

"I don't know." The pilot of Unit 02 started scratching the back of her head, trying to think of a way out of this rather awkward situation. "I mean, I'm kinda…."

Her friend seemed to be rather unsurprised by her hesitation. "You have a crush on Shinji, don't you?"

Out of sheer gut reaction, Asuka made a near horrified expression as she jumped forward and placed one of her bandaged hands over Hikari's mouth. "No!" She exclaimed in a hushed tone. "What makes you think that?!" She waited for her friend to answer her, but realized that her hand was still over Hikari's mouth. Rolling her eyes at herself, Asuka removed her hand to allow for her friend to speak.

"The whole class thinks it." She answered. "Even Toji and Kensuke joke with Shinji about it."

"Are you serious?" Asuka thought she had been subtle about her feelings for Ikari, especially considering that she'd made a point to distance herself from him as much as possible while at school.

"Yeah." She nodded. "So I guess you're not going to go out with my sister's friend then?"

Asuka initially just wanted to say no outright. However she began to think about it for a moment. She'd been doing this little dance with Shinji for quite a while now. She knew that their feelings for one another were mutual, but every time she tried to allow herself to get close to him, she'd always stop herself just before doing it. Perhaps it was her fear of allowing for others to be close to her, or perhaps it was that her pride wouldn't allow for her to come across so submissive and vulnerable. The night her and Shinji stared up at the stars on the balcony was the closest she came to just telling him flat-out how she felt about him. She probably would have too if she wasn't so drained from the nightmare she had just awoken from.

However, now was her chance to make Shinji come to her. If her idle threat about meeting other guys was enough to make Shinji almost ditch a major math test, then she was certain that actually going out with another guy would make him open up to her. If he were to come to her, she felt she could handle it. She wouldn't have to open herself up to him, he'd have to be the vulnerable one. He'd have to be the one putting his guard down.

"Yeah." She answered. "I'll go out with him."

Hikari began jumping up and down with joy, wrapping her arms around the redhead. "Thank you _so_ much, Asuka! You won't regret it, I promise!"

While her friend tightened her grip around the redhead, Asuka started to think about what exactly it was she was doing. She was taking some poor guy and using him as nothing more than a tool for her own personal gain. She almost felt bad when she started thinking about it.

Almost.

XXXXXXXXXX

Dr. Akagi flipped through the monitors while the pilots went through their regular synch test. Even after the incident with Unit 00 from earlier in the week, things were looking relatively normal. Synch scores were consistent, VR training had warranted nothing but expected results, and all in all things had been going so smoothly and expectedly that there was even time for idle chitchat.

"So have you picked out your dress for the wedding?" Ritsuko asked Misato, who was standing behind her.

"No." She sighed. "I don't know which one to wear. I could just wear the one I wore at Yoko's wedding."

"The yellow one?"

"No, that was the one I wore at Kayo's."

"Oh. Was it the white one then?"

Misato shook her head. "That was for Miki's."

"Sorry." Ritsuko shrugged. "I can't remember which one you're talking about then."

"It's hard to remember with all these weddings going on." Katsuragi leaned against the wall farthest from her friend. "What is it with everyone getting married, anyways?"

"We live in post Second Impact world." Dr. Akagi replied, making a few keystrokes while working over Maya's shoulder. "And for all we know, a third one could be just around the corner."

"Your point?"

"Everyone is trying to find somebody to be with." Ritsuko leaned away from the keyboard and turned to face the lavender haired woman. "Nobody wants to die alone."

"Well that's a bleak way of looking at it." Katsuragi frowned.

"Reality can be harsh sometimes." The blonde turned around and took hold of the microphone. "Alright, your readings are coming in loud and clear. You can leave now."

"Thank God." Asuka said as she stretched out in her Entry Plug. "I have to get ready for a date tomorrow."

"A what?" Shinji sounded a bit taken back.

"A da-"

Ritsuko flipped the switch to cut off the sound. "So are you heading home?"

"Yeah." Misato nodded. "I'm probably just going to go buy a new dress." She lifted herself from against the wall and rolled her shoulders to loosen them up a bit. "I guess I'll see if Kaji wants to go too."

"Oh really, now?" Akagi raised an eyebrow, throwing a half glance at the Major. "I didn't know you two were back together?"

"We're not." She snapped. "I just don't feel like going alone."

"I'll be there."

"Yeah, but you're no fun to drink with." Misato started making her way out the automatic door, waving to the head scientist as she left. "I'll see you tomorrow at the wedding."

Ritsuko gave a silent wave back to her as the door shut before turning back to the computer to finalize and record the data. Before starting, she dismissed the entire staff so she could work in solitude. Once all the engineers had left her alone, she took a seat in front of the computer and began typing away.

As she went through the varying synch scores, she caught a rather strange anomaly in the ratios. Just seconds before the A10 connections were shut off, there was a sudden drop in Unit 01's synch score of nearly five percent. Narrowing her eyes, she pulled up the pilot's audio and played it alongside the synch readings.

"Thank God." Asuka's voice came out of the speakers. "I have to get ready for a date tomorrow."

"A wha-"

Ritsuko stopped the audio, finding the exact point of the synch drop. She stared at the screen for a moment before playing that exact moment again, if only to ensure there wasn't a glitch in the timeline's synchronization. Just like before though, Unit 01's synch drop was in the exact same spot.

"Well that's not good." She said to herself, pulling out a cigarette from her coat pocket.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ikari leaned against the wall farthest from the door in the elevator. He rode alone with Rei, while Asuka either took the stairs or just rode in a different elevator. That was fine by him. After hearing about her date with some med student, Shinji just couldn't bare to face her.

He started to narrow his eyes as recalled her his name. Yuji. He clenched his fist, picturing a tall and prototypical jock. He had to have been a pervert too if he was dating a girl four years younger than him. Shinji had never met the guy before, but he couldn't help but feel a strong, irrational disdain for him. It didn't help that Asuka felt the need to rub in her excitement on Shinji either.

"You're quieter than normal." Rei spoke, causing his attention to turn to her. "Normally you like to engage in attempts at small talk."

"Sorry." He replied, looking down at the floor.

"Why are you sorry? I was merely making an observation." She kept her eyes forward as she spoke. "Why do you feel the constant need to apologize for things you don't need to apologize for?"

"Don't tell me you've started hanging around Asuka." He almost chuckled.

Rei turned her head, giving Ikari a half glance, her crimson eyes shimmering slightly under the elevator's bright lights. "I don't understand what you mean by that?"

"It's nothing." He shook his head, making a gesture with his hand as if to dismiss his comment. "Just forget it."

The blue haired girl merely turned her head back around and returned her gaze to the elevator door, not saying a word as she awaited to reach their exit. Shinji remained silent as well, looking up at the lights above him. He lightly kicked his heel against the wall, swaying his leg back and forth. The buzzing sound of the lights started to ring in his ears through the silence as he waited for the elevator to come to its stop. At first it wasn't so bad, but after a few seconds it nearly became infernal.

"I am sorry." Rei spoke, breaking the silence.

"What for?" He asked, happy to finally have the silence shattered.

"For what happened with Unit 00." She answered. "I should've advised Dr. Akagi against letting you try to synch with it."

Though he'd been told all the details of what had happened, Shinji still had no recollection of the incident. The only thing he could remember from it was that he was going in for a new experiment, and then he woke up with Asuka was cradling his head.

It was quite a pleasant way to come to.

"It's fine." He replied, pulling himself up from against the wall. "No one could've seen that coming. If anything, I should be apologizing for almost killing you."

"Unit 00 was not trying to hurt me." Her response was sharp, and almost abrupt. Ikari was somewhat taken back by her tone.

"But it was…"

"It wasn't aiming for me." She started. "It was aiming for someone else in the lab."

"Who?"

Ayanami stood silent for a moment, her eyes still fixated on the door. Once she could feel the elevator come to a stop, she gave her answer. "I don't know." The doors opened, and the pilot of Unit 00 stepped out, leaving Ikari to stand inside for a moment.. He slowly stepped through the threshold to the surface, and watched as Rei continued making her way down the hall.

"Enjoy your little elevator ride with the First Child?" A snarky voice called to him.

"Hi, Asuka." He sighed, turning to face her. Asuka felt that if she didn't know any better, she'd think he was disappointed to see her.

"Why the long face?" There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Why do you think?" He replied before turning around and walking away from her, heading in the same direction Rei had left in.

"Hey!" She snapped. "Where are you going?"

"I dunno." He shrugged. "With Rei, I guess." She had never heard him sound so disheartened before. He sounded like all the life had been sucked out of him.

"Oh." Asuka crossed her arms and bit down on her lower lip. "Well she's no fun. Why would you want to spend time with _her_?"

"I should probably get going, Asuka." He didn't sound like he was just trying to avoid her question. He sounded like he was just trying to avoid her entirely. "Besides, you've got to get ready for your date and stuff." With that, he turned around and headed down the hall, leaving Asuka to stand there by herself.

The pilot of Unit 02 felt a sinking feeling as she watched him walk away. She could have called out to him and asked him not to go, but she had to play her role for the time being. She had to keep pushing Shinji until he was over the edge and came running to her. Otherwise she'd just be back where she started with her being unable to open herself up to him, while also having no leverage over him.

"Shinji." She called , causing him to stop in his tracks, but still keeping his back to her. "Good luck tomorrow."

He raised an eyebrow, turning his head over his shoulder to face her. "For what?"

"I know you're going to be visiting your Mom tomorrow." Asuka spoke, her tone sounding like she was forcing herself to be nice. "So just be strong, okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded before turning his back to her once again, vanishing from her sight as he rounded the corner.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kaji's fingers danced across his keyboard, words quickly filling the screen of his monitor. He was beginning to feel that Gendo had either begun suspecting his espionage, or had just now started to care about it. He figured it was the latter. Ikari was no fool. From the moment that he delivered the embryonic Adam to the Commander, Ikari had been keeping a close eye on him. Though he was certain that both Ikari and Fuyutsuki had grown wise to his affiliation with SEELE, he still remained confident that they had yet to realize who his true allegiance lied with.

After making a few more keystrokes, he was finally able to crack the code. He was by no means a good hacker, or even that skilled with computers for that matter. His expertise lied in using his tongue and the 45. he kept tucked away in his black uniform. However SEELE's intelligence division had given him all the information he needed to know to hack into NERV's database

"Oh God." He murmured to himself, looking over the information that was displayed before him. NERV was known as an organization that liked to keep its secrets, but no one could've ever thought that they'd be hiding something like this.

He narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow as he continued reading over the words splayed across the monitor. With each sentence he read, things started coming together like a jigsaw puzzle. Only they were coming together like a jigsaw puzzle with half of the pieces missing. He was finally getting the general idea of NERV's intentions, but the picture as a whole still remained a mystery to him.

The sound of his door opening caused him to nearly jump, but he was able to close out of the window before it opened fully. He spun his chair around to face the person entering his office. Kaji wasn't expecting any visitors, which made it all the more surprising when he was greeted by the last person he expected to go out of their way to see him.

"Oh." He almost gasped at her sight. "Hello Major Katsuragi." A sly grin found itself emerging across his face. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You can save the flattery." She sounded more annoyed than dejected. She stepped into the rather small office and shut the door behind her. "I've got a question to ask you."

"If you're wondering if I'm available for tomorrow, then yes. I am."

Misato found herself at a loss of words. Was she really that easy to read? Or was Kaji just happening to play up his charmer attitude at the right moment? "Okay." The word slowly escaped her, as she was still trying to gauge whether or not he had been expecting this. "Good." She nodded. "I'm sure you've heard about the wedding tomorrow?"

"Who hasn't?" He replied, a smirk on his face.

Misato felt her eyes begin to narrow. She really hated how he was always so on the ball. Even when they were dating he was like that. He was always ready for any situation to occur, and never would he falter in the slightest. It made him seem almost too perfect in a sense.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?" She asked, trying to keep her tone as casual as possible. She didn't want him to think this was supposed to be anything romantic; she just didn't want to be go alone.

"Misato?" He stood up from his chair. "Are you asking me out on a…"

"Don't press your luck." She snapped. "Do you want to go, or not?"

Kaji walked up to her, placing his face nearly inches from hers. The two locked eyes with one another, Kaji's cool and soft, Misato's harsh and narrow. After a momentary stare down, he gave her his answer. Misato felt no small victory in hearing him say yes. That was expected. Her true goal was to get the point across that she didn't intend for this to be anything remotely sweet or amorous.

A point which of course she never truly expected Kaji to grasp.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji and Rei sat on a lone park bench atop a hill, overlooking a small pond just at the base of the knoll. The sky was beginning to turn orange as the sun started to sink below the tree line. The breeze of fresh air was nice and quite refreshing. It was almost able to cleanse his mind of the troubles that had been plaguing it. It was doubly pleasant that the pilot of Unit 00 agreed to join him. Though she wasn't exactly the most sociable person, he couldn't help but admit that she was pleasant company. Not only that, but he also figured it'd be good for her to spend some time out and about.

"Hey, Rei?" He looked over at the blue haired girl sitting next to him.

"Yes, Ikari?" Her tone was soft, yet neutral.

"Thanks again for coming out." He spoke. "I just don't think I could handle being around Asuka right now."

At first there was no reply, only silence. Ayanami's crimson eyes continued to stare intently off into the distance for a moment before she gave a response. "What is it about the Second Child that troubles you?"

Ikari blinked as he thought about how to answer her question in a way that made sense to both of them. "I just…" He stopped, biting down on his lip. "I…"

"Have feelings for her?" Her voice didn't seem the least bit judgmental or accusatory. If anything she sounded more observational than anything.

"Yeah." He exhaled, leaning the back against the bench, looking up at the orange sky.

"Then it makes no sense for you to be avoiding her then, does it?"

Shinji almost wished he could see things as flat and basic as Rei did. He'd certainly be much bolder if he did. "But she hates me."

Rei moved her gaze from the scenery and turned to face Ikari. Her head tilted slightly to the side, a perplexed expression across her face. "What makes you think the Second Child hates you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He turned to face her. "She yells at me. She gets mad at me all the time. She just doesn't like me."

"But I thought you two were friends?"

Her words caused his mind to flashback to the sushi bar. _"Of course we're friends."_ Her words rang through his ears as if she had said them to him just now. Then in a rush, everything she'd said to him that meant anything since then began flowing through his mind.

"_I swear to God, if you look, I'll kill you!"_

"_Tell me a story, Shinji."_

"_I can fix boring" _

"_Alright, what do you want to do then?"_

"_You pervert!" _

"_Goodnight, Shinji." _

"_Shinji, you idiot!" _

"_Just be strong, okay?"_

All these conflicting things she said to him stormed through his brain. Did she hate him? Did she care about him? Both, perhaps? Which was it? What did Asuka want? What was she trying to tell him?

"Ikari?" Rei spoke up, bringing Shinji's attention to her. "I thought you and the Second Child were friends?"

Shinji looked back at her, trying to collect his thoughts into one definitive answer. For every snap from Asuka, there was a tender retort. For every time she told him to go away, there was a moment where she didn't want to be alone. It was like she was flipping back and forth between what she wanted and what she didn't want. How she felt about him, he honestly wasn't sure of anymore. She said they were friends, but every time she showed him that they were, she'd eventually do something that contradicted it. However there was one answer that Shinji knew he could give for certain.

"I think of her as a friend."

"Then why do you run away from her?"

"Because I'm scared." He was a little surprised by how easy the answer came.

"Then you must overcome your fear."

Shinji huffed. It was much easier said than done. However she was right. If he wanted to be closer to Asuka, then he'd have to push his worries aside and confront his fears directly. The only problem was finding the strength to do it.

"How do I do that?" He asked.

"I don't know." She turned her gaze back to the scenery. "Only you know the answer to that question."

XXXXXXXXXX

Asuka laid flat on her back on the living room floor while a silly game show played on the television. She wasn't really paying much attention to it though. Her mind was occupied with various other things at the moment. Firstly she was beginning to wonder where Shinji was at. Typically he'd be home before she was, and the fact that it was nearing ten o' clock and he was still nowhere to be seen was just a little concerning. She shrugged this off though, dismissing her worry once she remembered it was a Friday night, which probably meant he was out with his friends.

She lifted herself up and looked at the hallway leading to the front door with a puzzled expression. The redhead started to realize how ridiculous that sounded. Shinji hanging out with his friends? He was so terrible at social interaction that just spending time with them at school was hard enough for him. Also, she couldn't once recall a time when he would stay out late with them in the past. This was all the more worrying.

From across the apartment she could hear the door opening, followed by Misato's call to announce that she was home. Asuka pulled herself up to her feet and greeted her at the door, if only to see if Shinji was with her. Once she saw the lavender haired woman standing by herself though, she began to furrow her brow.

"Where's Stupid Shinji?"

"You mean he's not home yet?" Katsuragi pulled off her red jacket and made her way to the living room.

"No." She shook her head. "I haven't seen him since the synch test."

"Well where the hell could he be?" Misato pulled out her cell phone to see if she had any missed calls from him, but there were none to be seen. She then punched in his number and hit 'send' before holding the phone up to her ear. The phone rang a few times, and somewhere between the third and fourth ring there was an answer.

"Hello?" His voice came through the speaker.

"Hey Shinji, It's Misato." She replied, feeling a bit relieved to hear him answer. She was almost worried that he had tried running away again. "Where are you?"

"Oh, I was just out with Rei. I'm in the elevator right now, actually."

Asuka made an instinctive twitch the second he heard the First Child's name. "What the hell was he doing so late out with Wondergirl?" She hissed to herself.

"Alright." Misato nodded. "I'll see ya in a few. Bye." Asuka couldn't tell if she waited for Shinji to say goodbye as well before disconnecting the call. "He's heading up right no-"

"I know." Asuka snapped, returning to her spot in front of the t.v. "I heard."

Katsuragi made a frown, looking down at the EVA pilot as she went back to watching the television. "You should probably go to bed, Asuka." She implored. "Don't you have a date tomorrow?"

She could hear the redhead huff. "It's just a favor for Hikari. I don't even want to go."

Before Misato could say anything else, she heard the sound of the front door opening.

"I'm home." Shinji's voice traveled through the small apartment. "Sorry if I worried you."

"How was your date with the First Child?" Asuka's voice was filled with a mixture of sarcasm and abhorrence.

"It wasn't a date." He replied, his tone too boring and prototypical of himself to be a lie. "We just went to a park and talked for a bit. That's all."

Once Asuka heard his footsteps come into the living room, she raised herself up from the floor and made her way to her room without so much as saying a word to either Shinji nor Misato. Ikari watched her as she strode past him, ramming her shoulder into his as she walked by. He wanted to say something, but as always found himself unable to speak up for himself.

"What's her problem?" He asked his guardian, waiting for Asuka seal herself away in her room before saying anything.

"I'm not sure." Misato looked down the hall, gazing at Asuka's door. "I'm sure its nothing."

"Probably." Shinji snickered. "She's always getting upset over nothing." He felt a cold chill shoot up his spine after he said that, knowing that the walls here were paper thin, and she could've very likely just heard him. However when she didn't come barging out of her room to yell at him, he figured he was in the clear.

"So are you ready to visit your Mom tomorrow?" The lavender haired woman asked as she pulled a beer out of the refrigerator.

The pilot of Unit 01 blinked. Amidst his day with Rei, he'd almost forgotten that tomorrow he'd be going with his father to visit his mother's grave, despite Asuka reminding him of it earlier. Between all of the things going on from the fear of another Angel attacks and girl troubles, he had completely forgotten to mentally prepare himself for that.

"No." He groaned.

"Well be strong, Shinji." Misato placed her free hand on his shoulder, keeping her reassuring smile. Ikari found it almost unsettling that she used the same words for support as Asuka did. "Remember, it's for her."

"Yeah." He nodded halfheartedly. "Its just that I haven't faced my dad in a long time and…"

"Shinji." Her tone was firm, yet soft. "I know you can do it."

As he gazed at her warm expression, he began to feel a little bit better about all this. Katsuragi had a strange way about her that gave Shinji a strong feeling of reassurance. It was like she actually cared about him, like she actually wanted him to be happy. He couldn't help but feel that it was almost darkly humorous that it was such an alien feeling for him to be around someone who was genuinely nice to him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Asuka awakened from her deep sleep and instinctively looked over at her alarm clock. She didn't even care if she slept in and her date was waiting for her, wondering where she was at. In a way she almost hopped that that was the case. Then she would've already had an excuse for not going. She was quite disappointed to see that she still had an hour to spare when she saw the time. Groaning, she exhaled, blowing a tendril of her auburn hair out of her face

A faint whiff of scrambled eggs and bacon slipped in from outside her room. Shinji must've been cooking breakfast. At least she was starting off the day with good food. Now she had a reason to actually get out of bed, but she was still looking for her reason to go out on her date.

Oh, right. Shinji.

She ran her fingers through her hair and wiped her eyes, trying to wake herself up. As she made her way into the kitchen, she found Shinji standing over the stove while flipping strips of meat in one pan, and cooking eggs in another. Her guardian was nowhere to be found though.

"Guten morgen." She yawned, stepping into the kitchen. "Where's Misato?"

"She already left." Shinji answered. "She had something she wanted to do at NERV before the wedding."

The German girl stepped up behind the pilot of Unit 01 and peaked over Shinji's shoulder. "Hurry up, will ya?" She hissed. Shinji gave no response as he pulled a piece of sizzling bacon off of the pan and dumped it onto the plate next to it.

"It's all yours." He said, pulling the rest of the bacon onto the plate. He could hear the redhead make a 'Mmm' sound once he started dumping the eggs next to the bacon. Without giving thanks, she took the plate from the counter and carried it to the living room and started eating it while watching t.v.. Shinji didn't mind though. He had grown used to thankless work. He was an EVA pilot after all.

"I'll probably be out all day." The redhead's voice traveled back to the kitchen where Shinji had begun cleaning the pans and utensils, making a visible scowl as she started talking about her date. "If he's cute I might even stay out all night."

"Well, looks like it'll just be me and Pen Pen then." He bit down on his lower lip.

"I guess so." She was starting to show her accent. "I have the feeling this date will be _so_ romantic."

"You really are excited about going out with this guy you've never met before." Asuka started to grin when she heard the passive aggressiveness in his tone.

"What's the matter, Shinji? You sound upset?" Her accent was in full swing at this point.

He dropped the pans in the sink, making a loud _clang_ as the metal collided with metal. The pilot turned to face her, his hazel eyes glaring into her ice blue. He had to say it. He had to tell her how he felt. Now was no better time than any. If he didn't cease this opportunity, he might never get the chance to again.

"I hope you have fun."

"_Damn." _He cursed himself.

Asuka made a frown. She didn't know why she was disappointed. She figured she should've known better than to think that Shinji would grow a pair and tell her how he felt. Maybe his feelings about her had changed? Maybe he didn't feel that way about her anymore? He certainly had plenty of chances to tell her, and she felt that he had just blown his last one.

"Well," Her voice returned to normal. "I guess I should go get ready." She took the plate of half eaten bacon and eggs and dumped it in the trashcan, some pieces not even touched. Shinji watched as the redhead trotted down the hall and entered her room, shutting the door behind her.

He looked down at his feet, and sighed. He knew there was no recovering from this now. Asuka was going to go on her date, and there was nothing he could do to stop her. He raised his head and looked at the clock, seeing that he needed to be at his mother's gravesite in two hours.

He could tell today was going to be a long day.

XXXXXXXXXX

The graveyard had grown since the last time Shinji visited his mother. It looked like a few thousand more markers had been added. Or maybe now that he was taller he could just see farther. Either way, the immense amount of markers sticking out of the ground was quite unsettling.

He stood idly over the monolithic marker that read his mother's name. Behind him stood his father, though he hadn't said a word since arriving a few minutes ago. The pilot of Unit 01 lowered his head and stared at the grave. Her name 'Yui Ikari' was spelled across it, as well as her birth and death year. That's all that was before him though. Just a marker, a name, and two dates. He didn't need to be told there was no body here. Most of these graves were of Second Impact victims, and as such no bodies were able to be recovered. All that remained of them was their names.

"I can't even remember what she looked like." He muttered.

Commander Ikari kept a straight face as he looked over his son's shoulder. "It's not the memories that we keep that are important." He spoke. "It's the legacy we leave behind."

"What was Mom's legacy, then?" Shinji turned his head to face his father, not fully able to look him in the eyes.

"Yui left behind two legacies." Gendo's tone was cool and collected as it always was. "The Evangelion, and you."

For a moment the teen found himself at a loss of words. He couldn't believe that his father was actually showing what seemed to be a form of support. "I'm her legacy?"

"Of course." He replied. "All the things that you accomplish will give meaning to Yui's life."

Shinji turned back to the marker. He hated to say it, but it sounded like his father was trying to manipulate him in some way. It was like he was trying to use his mother, His father's own wife as nothing more than a form of leverage to make him do his bidding. He couldn't feel very disgusted about it though. In a way this seemed like something his father would do. Perhaps that didn't excuse the act, but it just made Shinji feel too numb about it to even care.

"Hey Dad?"

"What?" His tone was starting to sound a little bit irritable.

"When you met Mom, how did you know you were in love?"

Commander Ikari found relief in the fact that Shinji was facing away from him, otherwise he might've seen his eyes go wide from the question. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." He lied. There was a reason he wanted to know, but he just didn't have the courage to push Commander Ikari for the answer.

"Is this about the Second Child?" His voice was like granite.

Shinji's eyes went wide, and his blood turned to ice. "H..how did you…"

"Dr. Akagi brought it to my attention that as of late your synch scores have been relative to your interactions with the pilot of Unit 02."

"They have?" He couldn't bare to turn around and face his father.

"I advice you sever your emotional ties with her." His cold words made Shinji begin to feel hot, like a burning sensation was starting to erupt in his chest. "The less your synch scores are affected by outside variables, the better."

Shinji didn't give him a response, instead keeping his eyes focused on his mother's name. The hotness in his chest felt like it was about to set his heart up in a blaze of fire, but after a moment of concentration the burning feeling began to subside.

The two remained silent for their last few minutes together before the sound of a loud buzz began to emerge behind them, causing for Shinji to turn around and see a VTOL starting to make touchdown about twenty yards away from him and his father. Commander Ikari seemed unfazed by all this.

"I have to go now." Commander Ikari spoke before turning around, making his way to the large aircraft.

Shinji silently looked onward as his father made his departure. Up in one of the passenger cockpits, his eyes caught a reflection from the light of the sun . He brought his attention up to it, catching sight of an unmistakable blue haired girl.

"_Rei?"_ He thought. He almost felt a small tinge of jealousy ball up in his stomach. His father was so quick to bring an end to this little reunion of sorts, yet Rei, someone who wasn't even his own child was riding in his personal VTOL? "Hey, Dad!" He shouted over the sound of the aircraft, causing his father to stop mid-stride.

"What?" He didn't have to speak very loudly for his voice to be heard.

Shinji was about to say that he enjoyed their time together, if only to remind Gendo that he did have an actual son. However Gendo's words about Asuka still ran through his mind. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he had one singular feeling towards his father that wasn't the desire to have his acceptance or praise.

It was spite.

"Nevermind." He shouted back.

At first Ikari stared intently at his son., knowing that Shinji had intended to say something else. Instead of dwelling on it, he merely turned around and boarded the aircraft, leaving his son behind to stand alone at the marker of his deceased mother.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sound of music flowed through Misato's apartment as Shinji slid the bow across the strings of his cello. Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, one of the most famous cello compositions ever made. He had to play it about fifteen beats slower than originally composed though, as his skills weren't exactly anything to boast about.

He hadn't played in quite a while. He had almost forgotten that he even had it sitting in his closet collecting dust. He had also almost forgotten how much solace and peace it brought him to play, especially after all of the confusing feelings that had been plaguing his mind lately.

The music carried him away as the melody flowed through him like a river of sound. It had been quite a while since he had found himself in such a state of ease. He could almost forget about all of the troubles he had been through, all of the hardships he had faced, all of it felt as though it didn't even exist. It was just him, his bow, and his cello. As he made his final stroke across the strings, he could hear the sound of clapping coming from behind him. Curious, he turned around to see a familiar redheaded girl in a green dress applauding him, the bandages on her hands slightly muffling her claps.

"Asuka?" He almost dropped his bow.

"Very good, Shinji." She praised. "I didn't know you played." She started making her way towards him, examining the stringed instrument.

"I'm not very good at it." He made an insincere chuckle, wondering what she was doing back so early.

"Well I'm impressed." She shrugged. "I tried playing the violin when I was seven. I never could get the finger positions right though. So I smashed it."

Shinji made another chuckle at the mental image of a young and frustrated Asuka attempting to play the violin, this time his laugh was sincere. "I thought you said you'd be out all day on your date?" He asked.

Asuka rolled her eyes and groaned. "That's what I thought too, but he was _so_ boring." The redhead made her way to the kitchen and pulled out a soda from the refrigerator, then shut the door with her bare foot. "So I ditched him while we were in line for a rollercoaster."

"That's pretty harsh." Shinji had to hide his smile.

"Eh." Asuka shrugged it off. "So what are you making for dinner?"

"I don't know." He got up from the chair and leaned his cello and bow against the wall. "What do you want?"

"Something simple." She replied. "Ramen is fine with me."

"Okay." Ikari nodded, a grin starting to show itself. "Sounds good."

The redhead took a sip of her soda, and then started heading towards the hallway leading to her room. "I'll be back." She said after taking a big gulp. "I've gotta take this stupid dress off."

Once she vanished out of sight, Shinji could hear the sound of her door sliding shut. A smirk spread across his face. A sense of lightness had overtaken him when she praised him on his cello playing, and it was only furthered when she told him how terribly her date had gone. Maybe he still had a chance after all.

XXXXXXXXXX

Misato rolled her head back as she downed her third shot of sake since the reception started. Her, Ritsuko, and Kaji all sat at the hotel bar, while the rest of the guests chatted up and laughed amongst themselves. Ritsuko turned around to face the group of people gathered around the tables. She caught Aoba standing next to what she assumed was his girlfriend of the week, his arm slyly wrapped around her waist. She could also spot Maya and Hyuga were farther off, though they seemed to be blending in amongst the crowd.

"Damn, that's good!" Katsuragi slammed her glass down onto the table, making a loud _thud_ on the wooden surface.

Kaji leaned over and looked down at the three glasses she had lined up, the slightest look of concern in his eyes. "You might want to consider slowing down."

His words were met by her sluggishly rearing her head to face him. Her brown eyes were slightly droopy, and her cheeks were starting to get the faintest bit red. "I'm a grown up. I know when to stop." She huffed. "Besides, we did a lot worse in college." She started to playfully nudge his side with her elbow, throwing a knowing glance at him. After having her fun, she carefully raised herself up from her stool and started making her way away from the bar.

"Where are you heading to?" Kaji asked, nearly standing up from his seat to catch his ex-lover when he saw her almost start to stumble.

"I'm going to go freshen up a bit." She lazily turned her head to face him, sticking her tongue out at him before vanishing into the crowd. Kaji watched her as she slipped through the group of people, her tight black dress snuggly fitting her curvy body.

Dr. Akagi sighed as she pulled a cigarette out from her pocketbook. "She's drinking too much."

"Can't say I'm surprised." Ryoji shrugged, turning back to the bar and taking a sip of his drink. "She's always been the life of the party."

"Too bad she's not going to remember any of it." Kaji could only assume this was Ritsuko making an attempt to be humorous while she lit her cigarette.

"That's right." He smirked. "You never were much for partying back in college. I must say though, it looks like all those endless nights of studying have gotten you quite far."

The faux blonde made a very faint chuckle before exhaling a puff of smoke. "If by that you mean working sleepless hours with barely enough time to go home and feed my cats, then yeah. I guess you could say I've gotten quite far in life."

"Oh." Kaji snapped his fingers, reaching into his right pants pocket. "That reminds me, I got you something." He withdrew a small red cloth pouch and placed it in front of Ritsuko. "It's a cat souvenir."

Akagi cocked her head a bit as she opened up the pouch, retrieving a silver coin-like object from inside. As she placed her eyes upon it, she could see that it had a heart shaped emblem with an outline of a cat etched inside it.

She recognized the emblem. Being a cat-lover, she was quite familiar with little trinkets like this one, and had come across one exactly like this before. However there was only one place they could be found. "What were you doing in Kyoto?" She asked, turning to face him with a rather serious expression.

Kaji leaned back in his seat, just a little wide eyed. "I was visiting Matsushiro." He answered. "Why do you ask?"

Ritsuko could see through his mock surprise. The scientist narrowed her eyes and kept her gaze sternly at Kaji for a moment before speaking. "You better be careful." She said. "You could end up getting burned, and you should know better than anyone what typically happens to people who get burned in your line of work."

Kaji did not give her an immediate response, instead keeping a serous look whilst nodding at her. She was right. He was walking in a minefield. If he wasn't careful then Commander Ikari would no longer be able to ignore the fact that he was indeed a spy. However as long as he continued remaining useful to him, there was not much Gendo would do to him.

Taking in a deep breath, he turned away from Ritsuko and faced the sea of people Misato had vanished into. The bathroom was just across the room. It couldn't have taken her much longer to 'freshen up' as she put it.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What do you mean you won't be home tonight?" Shinji spoke into the telephone. Behind him Asuka was sitting at the kitchen table, eating her bowl of ramen.

"I'm just going to be out drinking with Kaji." Judging by her voice, it sounded like she'd been doing plenty of that already. "So don't wait up for me, okay?" A hiccup escaped her as she finished speaking.

"Yeah." Shinji nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Bye."

"Bye." He placed the phone back on the receiver, prompting Asuka to turn around and look over at her roommate.

"What was that about?" She asked, putting her chopsticks down next to her bowl.

"Misato's going to be out all night." He answered, not really much expression in his tone. He sounded completely indifferent to it all. Asuka however, could feel a fire light in her eyes.

"So it's just going to be us all alone again, huh?" There was a slight playfulness in her tone. It was a tone Shinji had fallen for before, and when he did, it led to her berating and chastising him for either being a pervert, or just an idiot in general. However this time something about it seemed just a little bit different. Perhaps it was the way she kicked her feet back and forth in the air. Or maybe it was just the look in her eyes.

Either way, it made Shinji's heart race at the very thought of what she might have been insinuating.

XXXXXXXXXX

Misato bent over a trashcan in a back alley, vomiting into it while Kaji held her hair back. Katsuragi's hours of binging finally came to a peak somewhere between her ninth and tenth shot. Fortunately Kaji was able to escort her out of the hotel before she lost it.

She retched one last time before slumping down, going limp as her ex-lover held onto her to keep her on her feet. He handed her a bottle of water he was able to grab before heading out, which she was more than happy to snatch out of his hands. The lavender haired woman chugged down a few gulps, and then spit out the rest into the alleyway, getting rid of anything that was left behind in the transition from her stomach to the trashcan.

"We're not in college anymore." Kaji shook his head as he turned her around and lifted her up onto his back, holding her legs up with his hands while she loosely wrapped her arms around his neck, her high heels dangling from her fingers. "You don't need to drink yourself sick."

"Have _you_ ever lived under the same roof as _Asuka_?" Her slurred words slipped out of her as Kaji made his way out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. "You'd drink a lot too."

"You and me both know this has nothing to do with Asuka." His eyes looked back at Misato, who was resting her head on his right shoulder. Her hair was messy and strewn everywhere, her bangs drooping down over her eyes.

Katsuragi remained silent for a while. At first Kaji assumed she had passed out. Keeping his eyes forward, he continued his trek down the street lit sidewalk, knowing that Misato's apartment was only six blocks away.

Once they had made about halfway to her apartment, the sounds of chirping crickets started to fill their ears. Misato lived just a little bit outside of the inner city, so trees were quite prominent in that section of Tokyo-3.

Kaji then felt the Major smack her high heels against his chest. "Let me walk." She groaned.

At first he was a bit hesitant to let her down, but when she started loosening her arms around him, he didn't have much choice but to let her stand on her own. Her feet touched the ground, causing her white stockings to get dirty as they made contact with the sidewalk. At first she seemed to be a little wobbly, but managed to find her balance. After waiting a second to ensure that she could indeed walk on her own, Kaji started making his way down the street; Misato walking by his side.

"Kaji." Misato spoke, breaking the silence. "I think I've changed."

"You're right." He smirked. "You're even prettier." He always was quite the charmer.

The lavender haired woman had to hide her smile. "Not what I meant." Her tone sounded much more serious, a strong contrast from Kaji's lightheartedness. She took in a deep breath, and exhaled before continuing. "When I told you there was another man, I lied." She looked over at him, seeing that he was keeping his eyes straight forward, not the least bit phased by her words. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"No." He lied. Of course he knew there was never another man. Half of his job was to be able to read people. From the day she broke up with him, he knew that she was lying to him. However for her to lie to him of all people, he knew that there had to have been a good reason. A reason he knew in time she would tell him.

Misato raised her head and looked up at the stars. There were quite a few of them out tonight. A site that was rarely seen in the metropolitan area of Tokyo-3. "One morning I just woke up and realized how much like my father you were." Kaji kept his eyes focused on her, but did not rear his head. "I couldn't believe that I wanted a man just like my father. I was terrified." Misato looked over at her ex-lover, and frowned. "So I ran. I was afraid of becoming a woman. I was afraid of being with you. I thought I hated my father." She took in a breath, sucking in the night air. "And then I fell in love with a man just like him." She lowered her head. "I thought joining NERV would be a way to sever those ties. And then it turned out my father was with NERV. So then I just tried to bury it all by swearing my life to avenge him by killing the Angels." She stopped walking, and looked down at the sidewalk, Kaji stopping along with her.

"You chose that path, Misato." He tried his best to sound reassuring. "You don't have to apologize to anyone."

"Don't bullshit me, Kaji!" She snapped. "I just ran away! I just wanted to escape from the real world and my father!" A few stifling tears started to emerge. "I'm no better than Shinji is." She stopped to wipe away the salty cascades. "Who am I kidding? Even Shinji is better than me! Ever since Asuka came around, he's been acting like he has purpose. Like he has a desire to fight the Angels. God I'm so pathetic."

"Don't say that."

"I don't deserve to be his guardian. How can I help him when he's already better than me? He's found purpose without my help. Hell, look at me! I couldn't even talk to you about this until I was stumbling drunk!"

"Stop it!" Kaji yelled, trying to cease her self loathing.

"I'm worthless!" She cried. "I'm absolutely worth-" She was brought to silence as Kaji held her close to him and locked his lips with hers. Misato's entire body began to tremble in his arms as he kissed her. Slowly her tears began to cease as she found herself locked away in a moment of serenity and ease. Suddenly she felt a lightness in her left hand as she dropped her high heels onto the ground, making a hollow _clack_ as they landed. She didn't care though. She didn't care about anything for that matter. Not her problems, her loneliness, her inability to be the person she wanted to be. None of that mattered to her at the moment.

The only thing that mattered to her was Kaji's touch.

XXXXXXXXXX

Asuka looked over at Ikari as he sat down in the living room, reading a book. He'd had his nose stuck in it ever since Misato called what seemed like an eternity ago. She saw him blush at the mention of being in the house all by themselves, which was a huge improvement from his reaction to the last time she brought that up to him before their fight with the Angel NERV had now officially labeled as Israfel. However that was all he did. Blush.

The redhead was beginning to get angry. She'd been nudging him on and on for months now, and he wasn't taking the bait. He wasn't opening himself up to her, allowing for himself to be vulnerable to her. Maybe it was just from a building up of emotional tension, or perhaps it was because she was beginning to question whether or not she even cared about Shinji anymore, but she just decided to go for it.

"Shinji." She said, her head still leaning on the table. "Do you wanna kiss me?"

Ikari went wide eyed, and pulled his nose out from his book. He looked at her for a moment, wondering if she had said what he thought she said. "Huh? What?"

"Ya know?" Her tone didn't sound very playful, or even that interested for that matter. She sounded more bored than anything. "Kissing? Have you ever done it before?" He didn't give a vocal reply to her. Instead he merely shook his head. "Then let's do it!" Her head shot up from the table, and what looked to be an expression of enthusiasm started to spread across her pretty face.

Shinji's heart began to race. Was this actually happening? Was the girl he had a crush on asking him to kiss her? This had to be a dream. In just a few seconds he was going to wake up in his bed and Asuka would be yelling at him to get ready for school. He knew that's what was going to happen. However upon looking into her sapphire eyes, seeing the fire behind them, he could tell that this was far too real to be a dream.

"Why?" He asked. He then began internally asking himself that exact same thing as to why he would give such a response.

"I've got nothing else to do." She threw her head back, sending her auburn hair flying behind her, getting a few strands out of her face.

"You're weird." Shinji kept internally scolding himself for giving her these replies. He knew she couldn't have much patience left for him, if any at all for that matter. This was his opportunity. He had to cease it.

"What's wrong Shinji?" She started teasing him. "Are you afraid your Mama's watching you from up in Heaven?"

"That's not it." In his defense, it was an honest response.

Asuka shot up from her chair, a cocky smile spread from ear to ear. "Or are you scared?"

"I'm not scared!" He shot up from the floor. In truth, he was lying. He was mortified. So much could go wrong in this scenario. However it looked like it would be now or never. "Let's do it!"

"Right." Asuka sounded almost like she was preparing for combat. Just a hint of nervousness in her tone. "Did you brush your teeth?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Then here I come."

Shinji watched as her ice blue eyes grew larger and larger as she came closer to him. Her bare feet stepped right up next to him, her toes merely inches away from his. The two stared at one another for a moment in silence. Asuka was the first to lean forward, Shinji followed soon after. Their faces came nearly inches away from one another before both of them stopped.

Shinji could feel his heart racing, as could Asuka. In truth they were happy that they stopped for these few seconds as it allowed for them to compose themselves just a little bit. Shinj closed his eyes, as he couldn't dare continue to look into Asuka's. However the redhead kept hers open, fixated on him. Ikari slowly opened his eyes as well, wondering why there had been no lip contact yet.

"Stop breathing so hard!" Asuka hissed, reaching her hand up towards his nose. "You're tickling m-"

And there it was. A sudden jolt of either bravery or impulse coursed through Shinji's body as he leaned forward before Asuka could pinch down on his nose. At first the redhead's eyes went wide the second their lips made contact, but then they slowly started to close as she made a sigh of contentment.

This was good. Or at least she thought it was good, as she'd never been kissed before. She didn't think Shinji could be this assertive, which made it all the more surprising when she felt something slip between her lips.

Her eyes opened once again, even wider than before. She couldn't believe he was doing this. She wanted to say something. She wanted to yell at him for taking this farther than she intended it to go. Yet she found herself unable to resist him. Her body fell limp as she felt him push his weight against her, forcing her to lean against Pen Pen's freezer while they continued to kiss.

The hot spring penguin started to waddle his way into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks when he saw the two teens were blocking the way to his freezer. He looked up curiously at the two, wondering what it was they were doing. Shrugging it off, he waddled his way back out of the kitchen to sleep in Misato's bed.

Shinji's heart was beating hard enough to power a locomotive. He was almost certain that Asuka could feel his pulse through his lips. He felt like he was on autopilot right now, and all he could do was watch as his body just did what it thought was right. He could feel Asuka's tongue playfully dancing with his, and shivers went down his spine when he heard her moan.

This put his guard down long enough for Asuka to suddenly push forward and spin him around, slamming his back against the freezer while she leaned into the kiss. It was at this point that Shinji realized that his arms were wrapped around her waist, as her bandaged hands were locked behind his neck.

Slowly the kiss started to die down in intensity, and eventually the redhead pulled herself away from him, keeping her teeth lightly pressed down on his tongue as she slowly pulled away, making the kiss last as long as possible.

Asuka stumbled back, having to lean against the chair to stop herself from falling onto the floor. Her sapphire eyes looked over at Shinji's hazel, seeing that he was just as dazed as she was. "Wow." She exhaled.

"Yeah." Shinji replied, breathing heavily as he looked up at the ceiling, feeling like he was about to pass out.

Asuka lifted herself off of the chair and made her way to the pilot of Unit 01. Shinji could see a passionate look in her eyes. It looked like she was about to jump right back on him and start up another round. He loosened his posture, preparing for her lips once again. It was a good thing he loosened up, otherwise the sting of her hand across his face would've hurt a lot more.

"Oh my God!" Asuka hissed.

Shinji looked at her with a completely dumbstruck expression. "Huh?"

"I asked for a kiss, not a make-out session, you pervert!"

"But I… But you…" Shinji's mouth went slightly agape as he watched the redhead stomp out of the kitchen and down the hall towards her room, followed by the sound of her door slamming shut. Ikari felt his legs give way from under him, causing him to slide down the freezer until he was sitting on the ground with his knees up to his chest. "What the Hell?"

Inside of her room, Asuka fell flat on her bed. Even through the closed door she could still hear what Shinji had just said, and in truth that was her question as well. She didn't know what it was that she had just experienced, but it was probably one of the best feelings she'd ever had, just second to piloting Unit 02. Yet how did she react? A smack to the face? No wonder Shinji never opened up to her. Every time he did she reacted hostilely to him. He had every right to be afraid to open up to her.

She began to think about what she'd just done, what she'd just felt. Maybe they both just went a little too far. Maybe they just needed to take things slow. But how were they going to do that if Shinji thought she was a psychotic, bipolar bitch? He'd just poured every single bit of himself into that kiss, and she repaid it with hostility.

He deserved better than that. He deserved better than her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Deep inside of the core of NERV's Terminal Dogma, Kaji punched away at the keypad to activate the keycard terminal to the door many had come to refer as 'The Gate to Heaven'. Even though his focus was on his work, he couldn't help but think back to the night before. How he had to carry Misato to her room after she had passed out in the elevator to her apartment.

He also couldn't help but ponder on the image of Shinji sitting on the kitchen floor with his knees tucked up around his chest. He had no idea what had caused the boy to look so defeated and confused, but the fact that Asuka was nowhere to be seen made him feel as though she had something to do with it.

His trailing thoughts were brought to an end as he felt the cold metal of a gun barrel against the back of his head. He'd been expecting this. "Hi." he held his hands up, holding the keycard in hand. "Feeling better?"

"I'm sober now, thank you." Misato's voice was sarcastically cold.

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Cut the bullshit." She hissed. "Is this your real profession, or is this just something you do part time?"

"So I guess you've figured me out, huh?" He didn't sound as threatened as Katsuragi felt he should have. "Did Ikari put you up to this?"

"No." She shook her head. "This was of my own initiative. You have to realize that if you keep spying on NERV, you will die."

"As long as Commander Ikari still needs me, I doubt he'll try to kill me." He started to frown, though she couldn't see it. "Although I am sorry I kept this a secret from you."

"I'll let it pass." Misato began to slowly loosen her grip on the gun, but did not remove it from the back of his head. "Consider it payback for your help yesterday."

"I appreciate that." He exhaled. "But you should know that Commander Ikari and Ritsuko are hiding something from you." Without another word, his hand slid the red keycard down the reader before Misato could even react. The terminal made a ding as the huge doors began to open.

"Oh my God." Misato gasped, dropping her gun to the floor. Before her in this massive darkened room was a giant red cross about fifty meters tall, and thirty meters wide. Pinned to it was a bulbous white humanoid creature. Its face was hidden by a seven eyed mask, or perhaps its face _was_ the mask. Its lower half seemed to be missing though. Instead of legs, little tendrils of white flesh dangled down from a tumor-like bulge at its waist. Inside of its chest was a giant, red, twin pointed javelin. What purposed it served was unknown to Misato, however it made the sight all the more unsettling. "There's no way. It can't be!"

"Indeed it is." Kaji put his hands in his pockets. "The key to Second Impact, and everything that has happened since then. This is Adam."

"Adam." Misato echoed the name. "But why is the first Angel here?" She trusted NERV. She knew that what they did was for the betterment of mankind. However for them to be sheltering the very being that made the world the savage wreck that it is now without so much as telling her made her question her faith in the organization. "You're right." She growled. "I don't know NERV at all."


	8. 07

Sorry for the longer than normal length between updates. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out within a week.

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

Ritsuko narrowed her eyes once the synch scores started to come back in. Across the room she could hear Misato sharing idle chitchat with Maya and Hyuga. She was only half listening, but she managed to pick up on her mentioning Kaji somewhere along in the conversation. Though Ritsuko had no problem with burning time during these tests through pointless conversation, Dr. Akagi couldn't help but feel Major Katsuragi's attention needed to be elsewhere, especially considering the synch scores she was looking at.

"Rei, you can leave." The head scientist spoke into the microphone. "Asuka, Shinji. Will you two please meet me and Major Katsuragi in my office?" It wasn't a request.

"What's this about?" Asuka rolled her eyes, sounding quite annoyed. Before Ritsuko could hear anything else from the redhead, she shut off the video link.

"Maya, finalize and record the data into the MAGI." Ritsuko said to her protégé before throwing her eyes over to the lavender haired woman standing next to her. "Misato." She called. "Follow me."

The Major narrowed her eyes slightly as Ritsuko made her way out the door, but complied. The moment she stepped through the threshold into the hallway, she could feel the automatic door close shut behind her when Akagi pressed a button next to it.

"What's going on?" The Major asked, seeing the serious look her friend was giving her.

"Both Asuka and Shinji's synch scores have dropped a total of eight percent over the course of the last three tests." Her tone almost sounded accusatory towards Misato.

"What?" Her expression betrayed her surprise. "How?"

"I think we both know why that is." Ritsuko crossed her arms, sternly glairing at her old college friend.

"Don't look at me like I'd know anything." She threw her hands up and let them fall to her sides. "They've been acting perfectly normal at home." She paused for a moment, realizing she should reiterate. "Relatively speaking."

"Let's walk." The doctor huffed, beginning to make her way down the gray metal hall, her high heels clacking against the metal floor with each step she took.

Misato walked along side her, keeping pace with each step she made. "I don't know what you want me to tell you, Ri."

"I want for you to tell me why this is still a problem?"

Katsuragi blinked. "Look," She started. "there's just no way I can just tell them to stop feeling the way they do about each other. They're teenagers for Christ sake. They can't help it."

Akagi kept her eyes directed forward, zeroing them in on the door to her office which stood out amongst those next to it with a cat face sticker slapped onto it. "I don't give a damn." She snapped. "I'm not going to let the world come to an end because of two kids in puppy love."

"You sound like Commander Ikari."

"Maybe that's a good thing." She stopped at her door, reaching her finger out to hit a button on the panel next to the automatic door, causing it to open.

Shinji and Asuka were already in her office waiting, the smell of LCL still fresh on them. Once Dr. Akagi took a seat behind her rather large metal desk, she saw that neither one of the children were looking at the other, as though there was some sort of invisible barrier between the two.

"What'd you call us in here for?" Asuka was already beginning to sound as if her patience was running thin.

"Your synch scores are dropping." Akagi put bluntly, her attention more so focused on Shinji than Asuka. However even the redhead could still feel the doctor's gaze. "Let me rephrase that." She started to tap her index finger on her desk. "Your synch scores have been drastically fluctuating. Some days they are high, and some days they are low. This can be fairly typical. However your scores always seem to correlate with one another, and I want to know why."

Misato threw a look at Akagi, beaming into the back of her head. She already knew what the cause of all this was, so why was she dancing around the subject? She was toying with them like one of her cats playing with a mouse before devouring it.

"What do you mean by that?" Asuka completely understood what the doctor was asking, but she needed clarification on what it sounded like Akagi was insinuating.

"Me and Major Katsuragi have taken notice that your scores have as of late been fluctuating in harmony with one another. When one goes down, so does the other. When one goes up, the other does as well. This should be expected with the harmonization training Misato has been putting you through. However the last few tests have shown that both of your scores are dropping, and fast." The redhead narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms as Ritsuko continued speaking. Shinji just kept his eyes directed at the ground. He could see where this was going. "Drastic harmonious drops and rises like these are normally seen in pilots who share a strong emotional connection with one another, and…"

"Oh my God!" Asuka cut her off. "Are you insinuating that me and Stupid Shinji are…" She looked over at Ikari, making a disgusted look. "Gross! Like I would ever be interested in somebody like him!" Refusing to hear any more of this, Asuka stormed out of the office, leaving Shinji to stand across from Misato and Ritsuko by himself.

Behind her, Akagi could feel Misato's glare burning into the back of her head even worse than before. She had accomplished what she had sought out to do though. Shinji didn't even need to say a word to her, as Dr. Akagi had already achieved her goal by bringing them here. "You can leave now, Shinji." She nodded his way.

Ikari raised his hazel eyes up to her and looked at her for a moment, a look of slight surprise in his features. After taking a moment to pick up the pieces of himself that Asuka had ripped off, he nodded before trudging out the door, closing it behind him.

"What the Hell was that, Ritsuko?!" Misato walked around the desk so that she was facing the blonde.

Akagi's expression remained cold and blank. Misato was right, she was starting to become more and more like Commander Ikari by the day. "Asuka is predictable. Regardless of how she feels about Shinji, I knew that the moment we brought our awareness of it to her she would react like that. Now she'll shove Shinji away, and eventually get over him. Love amongst young teenagers is a rather fragile thing."

"What about Shinji?" Katsuragi kept her stern glare locked on Ritsuko.

"He'll grow out of it as well. Then things will be back to normal."

Misato snickered as she turned around and made her way out of Dr. Akagi's office. She knew Shinji far better than Ritsuko ever could. The idea that he could just simply let go of something or someone was absolutely preposterous. There may have been a little truth that rang in the doctor's assumption about Asuka. However she couldn't have been anymore wrong about Shinji.

XXXXXXXXXX

The redhead tapped her foot on the cold metal floor, being unable to feel its coolness through the plugsuit's material. She watched as Ikari made his way out of Akagi's office, his feet dragging the floor. She didn't need to be told that her words about him had struck a cord in him, and the fallout that had occurred in the past week and a half certainly hadn't helped.

After their kiss, Asuka just couldn't bare to be around Shinji. She had stopped waking him up in the mornings and walking with him to school, she no longer graced him with her presence during their lunch brake, and had even stopped allowing herself to be in the same room as him if she could help it.

She wanted to push him away. It was the best thing for both of them. As long as they remained away from one another, then she couldn't hurt him, and he couldn't hurt her. She couldn't find it in herself to be overly hostile like she did the last time she tried to push him away, but she could force herself to stay away from him until he got over her. Maybe by then she'd be over him as well, and would be back to clinging to Kaji for attention. Before she could do that though, she did have to give Shinji at least some sense of closure. He deserved that much at least.

"Third Child." She called, causing his attention to direct itself towards her.

"Yeah, Asuka?" His head remained low, unable to look her in her icy blue eyes.

"Don't think that I hate you or anything like that." She spoke with a shrill voice and slightly disassociated tone. "Its just that…" She looked away from Shinji, trying to find her words. Something that wasn't a lie, but at the same time didn't give away too much.

"It's just what?"

"Shut up, Shinji." She snapped. "I'm trying to think!" The redhead kept her gaze at the blank wall for a few more seconds before turning back to Ikari, giving him what she thought was both the explanation he deserved, and also one that was vague enough to hide how she truly felt. "You're a good pilot, Shinji." She bit down on her lower lip. "And you're an okay friend too, I guess. So let's just try to keep it that way, okay?"

"I… I understand." She could still hear the sound of hurt in his voice. In truth it hurt her a little bit too, but she knew it was for the best. Some things just weren't meant to happen, and this was one of those things.

The pilot of Unit 01 continued making his way down the hall once he realized the conversation was over. Asuka leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, feeling a bit of a heaviness in her stomach. She felt like she was about to be sick. There were so many things she wanted to tell Shinji. She wanted to tell him how amazing it felt to have him holding her. How she felt like she was floating in the clouds when their lips locked. How all of it just felt so right.

She swallowed, pushing the feeling in her stomach to the side and letting it settle itself in the back of her mind where it would undoubtedly continue to bother her, just not as often. Asuka kept telling herself that this was for the best, because even if she enjoyed being with him she knew that eventually she would hurt him.

Just like how she knew eventually Shinji would hurt her as well.

XXXXXXXXXX

One would think that the midday traffic in Tokyo-3 would be chaotic, much like that of the original New York City before it was sunken beneath the ocean after Second Impact, save for the uppermost levels of a few skyscrapers. However that was not the case in the booming city. All of the cars and trucks traversing the streets traveled in an orderly fashion, there were never any daring jaywalkers, and overall the traffic, both vehicle and human, flowed with ease. Businessmen walked together in groups, children held tight to their parent's hands, and all the vehicles on the street carried on with organized ease.

Then it all came to a halt.

A murky abyss began to form below the feet of all those walking along Huron Avenue, causing the flow of traffic, both human and vehicle, to come to a stop. All of them brought an abrupt end to their small talk. Many put down their phones as well, looking confusedly at this mysterious shadow that had suddenly appeared below them. Some looked up to the sky, expecting to see an eclipse. However there was none to be found. For about five to ten seconds all of those standing atop this shadow exchanged looks of puzzlement with one another, trying to decipher this anomaly.

Then the feeling of dread started sinking in.

First it was a car sinking onto its slightly heavier front end. Followed by that it was a businessman on his way to lunch trying to pull up his left foot, thinking he had gotten gum stuck on his shoe. Then it was a young boy spending the day with his father clinging onto him when he felt the earth below him start to deteriorate into nothingness.

Then the screams started.

Cars, people, vending machines, even small buildings began to sink into the blackness. The screams only lasted for about three or four seconds though, some not even able to let out a gasp as the pool of abyssal darkness sucked them into its cold and vile embrace.

Then it appeared.

In the sky, a surrealistic giant sphere took form above the city of Tokyo-3. Black and white lines swerved across its surface like those found in optical illusions. It didn't make a sound, nor did it move from its position above the metropolis. It merely floated there as all those below it were sucked into its dark grip.

XXXXXXXXXX

The alarm buzzed just as Asuka had removed her plugsuit. She inwardly cursed, knowing that she would very likely need to put it back on. Fighting with the rubbery material, she managed to put it back on, hitting a button in the left wrist, expelling all air from inside of it, making it cling to her skin.

As she stormed her way out of the locker room and into the hallway she could hear over the intercom an announcement for all EVA pilots to report to the Command Center immediately. Around her NERV personnel scurried up and down the halls, hastily carrying out their tasks that Asuka felt were too trivial for her to concern herself with.

Once she passed by the boy's locker room on her way to the elevator, Shinji Ikari stepped out, his white and blue plugsuit already on. Asuka paid no mind to the brown haired boy, not because she was making a point to herself to ignore him, but because her mind was focused on the task at hand, as there was not a doubt in her mind that this was an Angel attack. When she arrived in the Command Center and saw the image of a giant floating black and white ball flickering on the screen before her, that all but confirmed it.

"I've never seen an Angel like that before." Asuka commented to nobody in particular. Behind her she could sense Shinji's presence before he spoke.

"Neither have I."

"Nobody asked you, Stupid Shinji." She made a mental note that she needed to quit referring to him by that nickname. Kaji was right. It had practically become a pet name of sorts. She contemplated going back to referring to him solely as Third Child, but that was a nickname she liked to use sparingly, particularly in more serious situations.

"None of us have seen one quite like this before." Ritsuko spoke, a sense of authority in her tone as her and Misato approached the two. Before Akagi could continue, the door to the Command Center opened up again as Rei stepped through. The doctor waited for her to line up along with the other two pilots before continuing on. "It doesn't even have an AT Field."

"Well this is going to be boring then." Asuka sighed, hoping that she'd get a chance for another exciting and riveting battle with an Angel. The last one she had was with the spider-like creatur a few months back, and even then Shinji was the one who got the kill.

"Even so," Misato spoke up. "We're sending out all three of you, and we expect for all of you to act with extreme caution. We aren't sure exactly what this thing is capable of."

"Eh." The redhead shrugged. "It can't be too hard. I mean it _is_ a pretty easy target."

Major Katsuragi didn't seem to find Asuka's lack of seriousness very amusing. Ignoring it, she gave the children the mission details as normal. This was a pretty basic sortie. Without any sort of AT Field to speak of, and its rather large frame, if you could call it that, made it as Asuka said 'an easy target'. However Misato knew it could still be hiding many tricks up its sleeve. After all, it was an Angel.

XXXXXXXXXX

Due to the Angel's destructive power, the entirety of Tokyo-3 had been evacuated to the GeoFront shelters as opposed to the standard above ground shelters. After the Angel's initial appearance though, not a single bit of damage had been done to the city, nor its inhabitants. The black and white sphere merely remained stationary above the city, silence overtaking the entirety of the empty metropolis.

Silence.

That was all the EVA pilots could hear from inside their Entry Plugs. Typically there would be loud crashes and bangs, buildings being smashed, gunfire blazing, and Misato's orders blaring into their ears. Not this time though. It was all quiet. Even the instructions coming in from NERV seemed to be coming out as little more than whispers as the three Evangelion Units stalked their way through the labyrinth of buildings and skyscrapers.

"No visual of the target yet." Rei of all people was the one to brake the silence as she propped Unit 00 between two buildings, pressing her back against one and her left foot against the other, resting her sniper rifle atop the roof of the building in front of her.

"Ditto." Asuka replied, tightening her grip on the handle of her axe, lurking down the completely abandon Main Street. "What about you, Shinji?"

"I have it on my radar, but no visual yet." He replied flatly.

Inside of the cockpit of Unit 01, only half of Ikari's attention remained on the mission. For the past week his mind had been dwelling on the moment he and Asuka shared when they were all alone in Misato's apartment. When they kissed, he had felt more at ease than he could ever recall, and the action that followed it made him feel nothing but confliction. Though Shinji was not a virtuoso in the art of social skills, he was knowledgeable enough to know that to some degree at least, Asuka enjoyed the kiss. Yet even so she smacked him in the face like he had offended her in some way. It was so jarring that even after thinking about it for hours on end, he had yet to comprehend how this could've possibly been a logical cause and effect.

Then there were the words she said to him after their test earlier in the day. Though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, it seemed like the redhead was hiding something from him. Like she wanted to say something to him, but either couldn't bare to tell him or just felt he wasn't worthy of hearing it. Shinji settled on the latter.

Asuka was strong, assertive, and always in control. Shinji was cowering, weak, and unable to stand on his own. Once he started thinking about it, it didn't surprise him that Asuka pushed him away. He was so far below her that to even consider the idea of being with her was beyond wishful thinking.

The sound of his radar beeping snapped him back into reality, causing his eyes to rise up to the monitor. According to the blinking blue light on the digital map that was sprawled out before him, the Angel was right around the corner of the next building.

Slowly and cautiously, Unit 01 peered its purple head out and traced its eyes up to the sky where it could see the spherical being floating silently above. It either didn't see him, or it just didn't care. Without any eyes or anything that could pass for a face, it was impossible to tell the extent of its visual range.

"I have a visual." His tone turned deadly serious. "What do you want me to do, Misato?"

There was a brief moment of silence before he got a response. "Wait for Asuka and Rei." She answered. "I don't want you going in alo-"

"In position." Asuka cut her off.

Shinji looked behind him and saw the crimson Unit 02 standing atop of a building, stealthily hopping from rooftop to rooftop to get within leaping range of the Angel. Its movements were precise and accurate. Each leap was just enough to get it to the roof of the next tower, yet not too high so that it wouldn't make a lot of noise as its feet came crashing down. The buildings stood strong beneath her feet as she hopped from one to the other. When Tokyo-3 was built, it was built with the intention of being able to withstand taking large amounts of damage, and that did not exclude damage that could be dealt by Evangelions.

"What about you, Rei?" The Major looked over at Unit 00's visual monitor from the Command Center.

"I have the target locked." She replied, finally catching a glimpse of the Angel in her scope.

"Good." Katsuragi nodded. "Now, here's the plan; Shinji, you'll provide suppressing fire and gain the Angel's attention. Asuka, with the Angel distracted, you will leap onto it and cut open its exterior. Rei, once its exterior is open, you will take the shot and destroy its core. Understood?"

"Roger." Their voices rang in harmony.

"Whenever you're ready, Shinji."

The brown haired pilot nodded, sliding Unit 01's index finger around the trigger of his handgun, and taking a deep breath. He peaked his head out around the corner again and could see the sphere slowly looming his way. He wasn't sure if it was aware of his presence or not, but if he didn't stop it now, it would get out of Asuka's range and they'd have to reposition themselves all over again. Knowing he couldn't waste any more time, he stepped out from around the building, took aim, and fired.

All three shots echoed through his ears, the bolt flying back with each flash of fire from the muzzle. He kept his eyes open the entire time and watched as before his eyes the orb-like Angel completely vanished from sight as the three tracer rounds carried off into the blue sky.

"What the…" Unit 01 lowered its pistol, confusedly gazing up at the sky where the Angel had once been.

"Shinji!" Asuka's shrill voice felt as though it was scratching at his eardrums. "Move!"

Suddenly Ikari felt Unit 01's foot sink as though it had just stepped into thick mud. He quickly looked down to see that a black, abyssal pool had begun to form around his feet, and he was slowly sinking into it. He let out a scream of terror as he whipped up his pistol again and unloaded what remained in the clip into the pool. Each shot caused for a green liquid to shoot out from its murky surface, clearly causing some sort of damage, even if only superficial.

"Help me!" He shrieked, desperately trying to hike his legs out of the darkness, Unit 01's arms flailed wildly in the air as it desperately tried to reach out and grab something to keep it from sinking in.

"Hold on!" Unit 02 leapt from the building it had originally taken position at and dug its axe into the tower closest to Unit 01, causing the EVA to slide down the side of the structure, leaving a vicious gash in the metal frame of the building.

"Asuka, help me!" He cried in desperation, reaching his left hand out to the crimson red EVA.

"I'm trying, damn it!" Extending its free hand, Unit 02 tried to take hold of the purple mech's. "Stop squirming so much!" Like a dog following its master's command, Shinji almost immediately complied, forcing his arm to stick out as stiffly as possible towards Asuka.

The redhead locked Unit 02's hand around Unit 01's and pulled. She could hear Shinji's intense breathing over the audio feed coming in, and it wouldn't have surprised her if he could hear hers as well. Pulling with all her strength, Asuka started to lift the robot out of the abyssal lake, still keeping grip on her axe's handle.

"I've got you, idiot."

Never before had Shinji been so happy to hear her insult him. The coldness encircling his body began to leave as he was lifted up to the surface. Unit 02's grip remained tight, and its feet had begun digging into the side of the building to spread out its weight distribution to keep its integrity from giving way and causing her to fall in with him.

"You owe me, big time for this." The redhead snickered as she pulled the rest of the EVA out of the pool

"Thank you so much, Asu-"

Suddenly there was a jolt. Asuka could feel the building lose grip on its foundation and begin to sink into the darkness just as Unit 01 had. The sudden jarring motion of the tower showing the first signs of toppling over caused for Unit 02's grip to loosen. It didn't loosen much, but just enough.

"Shinji!" Asuka screamed as Unit 01's fingers slipped between hers. There wasn't enough time for Ikari to let out an audible cry before his entire EVA fell back first into the shadowy ocean. The purple mech sunk almost instantly as it passed into the threshold of darkness.

"Asuka, retreat!" Misato sounded almost as frightened as Shinji had.

"I'm going in after him!" Her response was just as much a surprise to Misato as it was to herself.

"The Hell you are!"

"I'll go down with the building, I can grab Shinji and climb back out before it sinks all the way."

"Asuka, please!" Though she couldn't see it, she could hear that the Major was fighting very hard to keep her emotions in check. "Just fall back and we'll regroup. We'll get Shinji out. I promise!"

The redhead kept her gaze down at the black pool that was growing nearer and nearer as the tower started to sink further into it. She knew that the longer Shinji stayed in there, the less likely his chances of returning would be. However she also knew that this so called plan of hers was suicidal. After weighing her choices, Asuka took a deep breath and yielded herself to Misato's commands.

"Roger." She growled in reluctance as she turned to face the sky and began climbing to the top of the building with her axe. Once she reached the top, she could see that the blackness had spread farther than she had thought. All the buildings around her were beginning to fall into its cold embrace if they hadn't completely sunken already. Though it made her trek back to the forward base more difficult than she had originally anticipated, it wasn't too much for someone like her to handle.

As the crimson EVA leapt from rooftop to rooftop, all that could go through Asuka's mind was the feeling of Shinji's fingers slipping out of her own. The feeling of complete dread that overcame her as she watched Unit 01 fall into the darkness she had thought she had saved it from.

"This is all my fault." She hissed in her moment of self loathing.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had begun to set on Tokyo-3 as a church bell tolled six times. Unit 00 and Unit 02 remained on standby, their umbilical cables still attached in case they were needed on a moment's notice. Next to the two EVAs was a third, severed umbilical cable. It was the very same cable Shinji's Unit 01 had been connected to. In a desperate attempt to save the pilot, they reeled in the giant cord in hopes that Unit 01 would be on the other end. To no one's surprise, that was not the case.

Misato sighed as she looked through her binoculars, gazing at the ravaged city that barely stood before her. Never had an Angel done this much damage to Tokyo-3 with so little effort. Hundreds of buildings had been completely toppled or partially sunken in. There wasn't a doubt in Misato's mind that once the abyssal ocean vanished, the remaining towers would topple without any grip on their foundation. Above the ruined city the spherical Angel still remained, completely motionless.

"The UN forces have surrounded the area." Aoba spoke, catching Katsuragi's attention.

"Movement?" Her eyes remained cast out towards the destroyed cityscape.

"It looks like it has maxed out at a diameter of six hundred meters." Hyuga answered.

"Well that's good." Misato sighed, pulling down the binoculars. "At least things aren't getting any worse."

"Pft." The Major looked over at the source of the snicker, catching sight of Asuka overlooking Tokyo-3. The redhead's back was turned to her, her red hair blowing in the wind, and her hands were placed firmly on her hips. The setting sun shone down on her, creating an extended shadow on the ground that reached all the way to Misato's feet, who was standing five or so meters away.

Asuka hadn't said anything since the incident with Unit 01. If she did, no one could hear it. Misato tried to comfort her and tell the fiery redhead that they would get Shinji out, however her words of ease only brought out a stern glare from the pilot of Unit 02. She couldn't blame her though. Asuka was a smart girl. She knew just as well as Misato that they had not even the slightest clue as to how they were going to save Shinji, and it honestly didn't look like one was going to be made either. Thinking back on it, Misato almost wished she let Asuka go into the abyss, at least she had a good idea of Shinji's approximate location at the time. Now all they had was a severed umbilical cable and a missing Evangelion along with its pilot.

"Asuka, I…"

"Shut up!" She growled through gritted teeth, keeping her hands on her hips and her back turned towards the group standing behind her.

Rei was leaning against one of NERV's parked Humvees next to Asuka, her crimson eyes traveling over to the red haired girl.

"None of this should've ever happened!" Asuka's shrill voice flared with anger as she raised up her right hand from her hip and clenched it into a fist. "I had him in my hand for Christ sake!" She stomped her foot into the ground, dropping both arms to her sides and balling them up. "Wie könnte ich nur so dumm sein?!" Shaking with anger, she took in a deep breath and exhaled before passing by Rei, who continued to silently follow the red clad pilot with her eyes.

Then for a reason that Asuka couldn't quite understand, she felt another surge of anger course through her. It started in her stomach where she thought she had pushed that sick feeling she had earlier after talking to Shinji, and then it ran up her torso, through her shoulders and into her right arm as she threw her fist through the rear passenger window of the Humvee, shattering it into tiny glass fragments.

Everyone around stopped what they were doing at that moment and turned their attention to Asuka, who's entire right forearm remained inside of the vehicle, still shaking. Even Misato couldn't help but look on at the girl, her mouth slightly agape. The only one who didn't seem to be fazed by this was the blue haired pilot of Unit 00, and even then her crimson eyes remained locked on the girl.

Slowly, Asuka pulled her arm back and looked at her hand. A few pieces of glass had ripped through her plugsuit and cut into her hand, though none had impaled her. "Damn." She murmured to herself, looking down at her bleeding hand. "I just had those stupid bandages taken off."

"You shouldn't blame yourself." Rei's ghostly voice sounded like screeching metal to Asuka. "Ikari wouldn't blame you."

"Shut up, you bitch!" Like a vicious animal lashing out at an intruder, the back of Asuka's bloody hand came across Rei's pale cheek, her crimson knuckles hitting the pilot hard in the jaw. "You don't know what the idiot thinks!"

Despite the hard hit, Rei didn't seem the least bit affected by it. All she did was merely wipe off the little bit of Asuka's blood that had smeared onto her pale skin with the back of her gloved hand. "I may not know you as well as Ikari does, but I do know him better than you do." Though her words weren't meant to insinuate anything, that wasn't how Asuka took it.

Her icy blue eyes went wide with fury and her bloody right hand clenched into a fist again. "What did you say?!" She grabbed Rei by her collar, and held her in place while she drew her bloodied hand back; Rei still staring her in the eyes without an ounce of fear in her expression. "Why don't I just break your God damn jaw?! Will _that_ shut you up?!" Asuka was too clouded by anger to realize the irony of her of all people saying that Rei was talking too much.

Ayanami kept her eyes locked with Asuka's, her crimson eyes meeting her blue. The redhead began to feel her right arm begin to tremble, not because of her anger, but because of how unsettling Rei's emotionless stare was. It was like she was staring right down the middle of the uncanny valley. Something about her features just seemed so inhuman and alien. It was like looking into the face of a doll.

A doll…

Asuka trembled at the brief flash of her long forgotten past before loosening her grip around Rei's collar and lowering her fist. Just as she put it down, she felt someone grab her bloodied arm and spin her around.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Katsuragi barked, nearly nose to nose with the pilot of Unit 02. Asuka had irritated Misato plenty of times in the past. However she had never once seen her this angry.

"I'm not doing anything." She huffed, pulling her arm away, inwardly hissing at the pain coursing through her knuckles. "Just like what you've been doing for the past three hours."

Misato could feel a knot in her stomach at Asuka's insinuation as the redhead strode towards Unit 02's feet, where she sat down next to it and raised her knees up to her chest. Katsuragi wanted to say that Asuka was just deeply upset about what happened to Shinji, and also felt that her pride had been wounded after being unable to save him. While that may have been true, there was clearly something else that was upsetting her. Something that Rei brought out.

She wanted to dwell on this, but chose not to. Rei seemed fine, and Asuka would get over whatever it was that was bothering her eventually. For now though, they had to figure something out. They had to find this Angel's weakness, kill it, and most importantly, they had to save Shinji.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji took in a breath of the LCL around him as he turned on his radar once again in what he already knew was a vain attempt to find help. Nothing but white noise surrounded him. It was as though he was in the middle of, sheer nothingness.

He felt like he was starting to understand what it was like to be born blind. He had always heard that those who were born blind didn't see darkness, they merely saw nothing. That was a concept that he had never quite been able to grasp until now. What was around him wasn't darkness, it was just nothingness. It was like he was the only being in existence in this realm, which very likely could've been a possibility.

"Twelve hours." Shinji had resorted to talking to himself as he looked down at the stopwatch he had set once he had composed himself after being sucked into the abyss. "It feels like it's been forever." He leaned his head back in the seat, looking up at the bulkhead above him.

The past twelve hours had been dragging on for what could've easily been mistaken for an eternity, but at the same time went by in a blur when Shinji tried to recall it. The first hour or so was sheer panic and fright. Had it not been for the LCL regulating his oxygen intake, he very likely would've passed out from hyperventilation not two minutes after finding himself in the sea of nothing.

Everything after that just was like one ongoing drone of both boredom and apathy. He never thought it would end like this. He had never thought that his death would come down to him merely counting down until the LCL around him broke down and suffocated him. He felt like he should've been scared. He should've been terrified, really. Yet, he just didn't seem to care. His life would end in about four or five hours and all he could think about was how bored and hungry he was.

"I wish Asuka was here." His thoughts were starting to become vocal, as the silence was beginning to grow as stale as the LCL flowing around him. "If she were here, she'd call me an idiot, maybe smack me." He made just the slightest of chuckles. "Who knows? Maybe she'd kiss me again." He closed his eyes and recalled the moment, making a faint smile as he felt a warmth arise in his chest. Her lips were as soft as he had imagined they would be, and the feeling of holding her next to him felt so right, as though their bodies were made to be held by one another.

Then he remembered that she'd never kiss him again even if he was the last human being on Earth. This caused his smile to quickly turn into a frown.

XXXXXXXXXX

The NERV staff gathered around a whiteboard Ritsuko had managed to scour from inside a nearby building. On it were numerous diagrams and graphs, as well as a few equations that would appear as a foreign language to a normal person, but to those gathered around it was like reading from a textbook.

Dr. Akagi stood up front with a nightstick she had borrowed from one of the security personnel and used it to point out the different equations and charts as she spoke. She could've made a whole lecture about the properties of this Angel, but there wasn't exactly time for that, so she was forced to give them the cliffnotes.

"From what our scanners have detected, it seems that the sphere above the city has no AT Field of its own. However there is an inverted AT Field coming from within the shadow."

"So does that mean the shadow is the Angel?" Misato felt this was the direction Dr. Akagi was going, but felt she needed to have her clarify.

"Exactly." She nodded, lowering the nightstick to her side. "However the region of space which the Angel occupies can only be defined by abstract mathematics. Essentially it's a Dirac sea. For all we know it could be a portal to another universe."

Katsuragi raised her hand, feeling as though she were back in the lecture halls from her college days "Then what about the sphere?"

"It disappears when the imaginary circa of the body closes. So in a way you could say it is a shadow of sorts."

"So basically the Dirac sea is our target?"

The blonde nodded.

Sitting on the back of one of the Humvees, Asuka flexed her now bandaged hand, feeling a sharp pain in her wrist as she did so. She didn't need this lecture from Dr. Akagi to explain to her what this creature was. She saw it bleed when Shinji unloaded his pistol into it. It was at that very moment she knew what the true target was. However now the question remained as to how they would kill it.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You're going to do what?!" Misato stomped her foot down on the ground, visibly showing her displeasure with her coworker and friend.

"That's the only way we can destroy it." Dr. Akagi's tone remained stern yet calm. Behind her the flood lights shone down on the two, as the sun had set long ago. "We will drop all nine hundred and ninety-two existing N2 mines into the target's center, while simultaneously activating the AT Fields in both remaining EVAs in a way that would disrupt the hypothetical circa that encloses the Angel's pocket interior. If we concentrate enough explosive power during that same microsecond, we can destroy the Angel and the Dirac sea along with it."

"But if you drop that many N2 mines into it, Shinji would be…"

"I know." Ritsuko lowered her gaze to her feet. "The likelihood of Unit 01's pilot surviving the assault is somewhere around zero point three three three percent according to the MAGI." She rose her head back to meet Misato's brown eyes. "However our primary concern is destroying the Angel and retrieving the EVA. Under these conditions the pilot's life is irrelevant."

The last sentence pulled a string in Misato's heart, causing her to instinctively pull her hand back and swing it across Ritsuko's face, and hard. The lavender haired woman could feel a stinging sensation in her palm as the faux blonde bent over and held her own hand against her red cheek. If it stung her, she couldn't imagine how bad it hurt Ritsuko.

She didn't care though.

Akagi rose her eyes back up to Misato, a tinge of anger in them. "It is _your_ responsibility if Shinji dies, Major!" The venom was practically dripping from her mouth. "However, it is _my_ responsibility to recover Unit 01, no matter what the cost!"

Ritsuko felt Misato snag her collar, yanking her closer to the Major's face. "What is so God damn important about Unit 01?!" This was just one of many questions that rang through Katsuragi's mind. One among those being why they were sheltering the monstrous abomination in Terminal Dogma.

Ritsuko's eyes stabbed into Misato's. "You've been given all the information, Major!"

"Bullshit!" She hissed.

"You can harass me all you want, but there's nothing more I can tell you." Her tone had simmered down to a growl. "Trust me."

Misato's grip around her collar loosened enough for the scientist to pull herself away. Though she knew Ritsuko was lying through her teeth, she also knew Dr. Akagi well enough to know that she'd never submit to idle physical threats. "We'll talk about this more later."

Akagi straightened up her lab coat, keeping a stern glare at Major Katsuragi. "I'm taking command of this operation effective immediately." Not letting Misato get another word in, Ritsuko strode past her and left her to stand under the floodlight by herself.

Misato clenched her fist, knowing what inevitably had to follow this conversation. Now she had to break it to Asuka and Rei that not only were they abandoning Shinji's rescue mission, but now they were going to have to partake in killing him as well.

"Damn you, Ritsuko."

XXXXXXXXXX

The pilot of Unit 01 leaned back in his seat once again, finding himself in a near fugue-like state. The last thing he could recall was waking up and feeling terrified that the LCL was beginning to smell all too similar to blood. Normally LCL always had a hint of the coppery smell, however in the Entry Plug it was filtered in such a way that the smell was almost unnoticeable. Now that the LCL was beginning to break down though, the scent was almost uncanny.

Then just as quickly as he had found his heart racing, he found himself in a strange state of calmness. It was almost as though he was in a medium of all emotions in this realm of nonexistence. Perhaps he was beginning to surrender to Death's embrace, and in a few moments he would be no more.

Without thinking, he looked at his watch. It read fifteen hours. The LCL around him was probably reaching its last cycle before becoming unusable, yet that didn't frighten him as much as he felt it should. He found that he wasn't afraid of death at this point. He wasn't afraid of his life ending, but he was afraid of thinking about what he'd be leaving behind if he were to die here.

"_Stupid Shinji."_

"_Welcome to your new home!"_

"_Do you mind moving?"_

"_You mustn't run away."_

"_Hit me! It's the only way to make this right!"_

"_Wow, this fleet is huge!"_

"_You made her cry!"_

"_Why do you keep apologizing?"_

"_Good work, Shinji."_

"_You want us to catch it with our hands?!"_

"_Why are you crying?"_

"_I swear to God if you look up my skirt, I'm going to kill you!"_

"_I will pilot Unit 02."_

"_Of course we're friends."_

"_Do you wanna kiss me?"_

His eyes shot open as he took in a big gulp of recycled LCL. He began to panic again. He didn't want to leave this all behind. He didn't want to lose what little he had. He wanted to live. He wanted to see all those he cared about again, even if it did hurt to be around them. Asuka, Rei, Misato, Toji, Kensuke, Hikari, Pen Pen. All of their faces flashed before his eyes. They were what gave his life meaning. They were the things most valuable to him, and if he were to die now then he'd never get to see them again, talk with them again, laugh with them again. All of that would be gone.

Suddenly he felt a warmth around him as the lights inside the Entry Plug began to flash and flicker. In his current state, he was unable to fully comprehend what was going on around him. The internal battery had long since run dry, and he hadn't made any effort to activate Unit 01. Even so, he could feel the seemingly warm embrace that he always felt while inside of Unit 01. It was a strange feeling that could only be described as comforting and caring. It was like that a mother's touch.

Then it all went black.

XXXXXXXXXX

"T-minus sixty seconds till mine drop." One of the pilots overhead announced as seven different squads of aircraft started to soar over the sunken section of Tokyo-3. Unit 00 and 02 stood by as they watched the bombers get ready to make their run. Inside of the crimson EVA, Asuka had lifted her knees up to her chest and balled herself up in her seat. She couldn't believe she was about to go through with this. When Misato told her what their orders were, she felt nothing but seething anger. She wanted to rip both Misato and Ritsuko's eyes out. Most of all though, she wanted to rip out her own. They wouldn't even be in this dilemma if it wasn't for her failure.

She was the one who tried to save Shinji, she was the one who had him in her grasp, and she was the one who let him slip away. No matter which way she looked at it, this was all her fault. Had Shinji acted irrationally and gotten himself stuck inside of that abyssal realm because of his own doing, then perhaps she wouldn't feel as bad about assisting in what was practically Shinji's euthanasia. However that was not the case. He did what he was supposed to do, and she didn't. Now Shinji had to die because of it. Asuka almost felt happy that she already had trouble living with herself. Perhaps that meant a new burden wouldn't be as cumbersome.

She was brought out of her thoughts as a vicious jerk lurched her EVA forward. The redhead quickly brought her eyes up to the monitors, looking down at the city off in the distance. Spider web-like cracks began to spread throughout the shadowy pool, blood red illumination coming from the inside of them.

"What the hell?!" She shot forward and watched as the cracks spread throughout the Angel's body, ripping it apart at the seams. From the fissures, LCL began to pour from the Dirac sea and a loud wail could be heard. Whether or not this was from the Angel crying out in pain or just the sound of the pocket dimension inside it being ripped to pieces she could only guess at. Either way, it sounded utterly horrifying.

Up in the sky, the black and white sphere started to convulse. Its form began to shift and a large bulge started to form on the side nearest to her. The stretching expanded farther and farther until it started reaching disgusting levels of expansion that it seemed unnatural for the floating orb to still be intact, and then it finally ripped.

A giant mechanical arm punched through what could be called the skin of the sphere, causing for a massive gush of blood red LCL to spew all over the city below. Then from the puncture, a second arm emerged, widening the gapping hole even wider. Pulling the sphere apart, the two arms ripped a large gash into it and caused another gush of LCL to shoot outward.

Asuka looked closely at the sight unfolding before her. As she zoomed in on the Angel she could see a monstrous creature pulling itself out from inside, like the birth some eldritch abomination. It looked exactly like Unit 01, but at the same time looked nothing like it at all. Its mouth was agape and it made a bellowing roar as it further disfigured the Angel that had been holding it prisoner. Its slit eyes glowed a bright yellow that contrasted against the LCL that drenched its body.

"Mein Gott." She let out, gasping at the beast. "_I'm _piloting one of those things?"

With one more motion from Unit 01, along with another bloodcurdling roar that shook Asuka both physically and mentally, the sphere ripped in two, allowing for Unit 01 to fall freely to the ground below as a shower of LCL coated it. Once it landed, it planted its feet and one hand squarely on the now destroyed and now solidified Dirac sea in a three-point stance, and remained motionless as the remainder of LCL poured onto it. Whatever this thing was, it was acting on its own accord. Asuka knew Shinji's piloting style, and this was not how he piloted Unit 01. She had never seen him act with such primordial rage, and in truth she didn't even think he was even capable of it. Perhaps that was what made the sight so unsettling. Not the blood, not the vicious roars and wails, but the idea that these monstrosities of a weapons they had been piloting all this time could act on their own free will.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji slowly opened his heavy eyelids, initially seeing nothing but a bright white light at the end of a very narrow and dark tunnel. Then as his eyes opened further, the light grew larger and larger until ultimately it was all he could see. As his pupils adjusted to the brightness, he was able to make out the features of the white ceiling above him. Though he had lost count of how many times he had awoken to this exact same sight, he still hadn't grown used to it. To him it was still nothing more than an unfamiliar ceiling.

With a groan, he rolled over to his right, finding the sitting form of a lone blue haired girl with nearly luminescent crimson eyes staring into him. Rei was wearing her blue and white school uniform, which must've meant that some time had passed since he had initially regained consciousness.

The last thing he could remember before waking up in the cold and empty hospital room was the sunlight, followed by Misato clutching her arms around him as tightly as she could. He remembered her crying, openly weeping onto him. At first he thought he was dead, and he was having some sort of outer body experience of sorts as his guardian wept over his corpse. Then he could feel movement in his arms as he very lightly grasped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. He didn't know why he did it, nor did he even think he had told his body act in that way. He just did it. He just had to comfort her, to tell her that it was all going to be okay, that _he_ was okay. Though that didn't cease her crying, it did tell Shinji that he was indeed alive. After that though, it was all a blur.

"You've been asleep for some time now." Rei spoke, her hands placed in her lap. "It is good to see you're awake."

'What happened?' Shinji tried to ask, but instead all it came out as was a groan. Placing his hands onto the mattress and raising his upper body, he attempted to speak again. "What happened?"

"Do you not remember? Unit 01 ripped through the Angel, and destroyed it."

"It did?" He ran his fingers through his short brown hair, scratching his scalp. "All I remember was being trapped in the Entry Plug and then I was thinking of you, and all of my friends. Then after that everything went black."

There was a momentary pause between the two. Rei kept her eyes fixed on Shinji, as though she were trying to gauge something about him. After a silent stare that went on just long enough to become slightly awkward, she spoke.

"You thought of your friends?"

"Yeah." He nodded weakly, leaning his back against the wall, the small of his back pressing up against the rail-like headboard. "I thought about how I wanted to see all of you again, and how I didn't want to die."

"And that is all you remember?"

He nodded, giving no verbal reply.

After a moment, Rei sat up from her seat, keeping her eyes on Shinji. "You might be happy to know that the Second Child has been wishing to see you again as well."

"Asuka?" He felt more that a little surprised. "Where is she?"

"She's here." Rei's eyes traveled to the door, Shinji's followed, catching sight of the feisty redhead peaking through the small rectangular window on the door. Once she realized that both of them were looking at her, she quickly pulled her head away, leaving them with nothing to see other than the white wall across the hall.

"Why's she outside?" His eyes turned back to Rei.

Ayanami kept her gaze on the door. "I do not believe that the Second Child is very fond of me."

Ikari frowned. He didn't have to ask her why she thought that. Asuka could be very abrasive, and if prior interactions had been any indication, the redhead always seemed to be a bit put off by the First Child.

"I should probably be going now." Rei turned to the empty bed next to her and grabbed her backpack. "I will let the doctors know that you are awake." Before Shinji could get another word in, the blue haired pilot made her way out the door, leaving it wide open as she left.

Shinji stared into the outside hallway, feeling a presence lingering just outside of the room. He knew very well who it was. He almost felt compelled to call out to her, but withheld himself. If he tried to speak with her, Shinji wasn't sure which Asuka he would be talking to. He didn't know if it would be the normal haughty Asuka, or the somewhat abrasively nice Asuka that he had rarely gotten to see as of late.

"How are you feeling?" Her voice came in from outside the room, echoing through the quiet, empty white hallway, and into his room. She remained next to the doorway with her back against the wall, still out of Shinji's site.

"Better, I guess." He spoke to the doorway. There was a silence between the two. Shinji kept his eyes focused on the view of the hall, waiting for her to say something. When nothing ever came, he decided to speak again. "I'm sorry if…"

"No." Though she didn't yell, he could hear the hidden annoyance in her stern tone. "Why do you keep apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong." Even from his bed, Shinji could hear the faint sound of her sighing. "I'm the one who should be sorry." Her voice started to soften up a bit. "I'm the one who couldn't save you."

"But you tried." He spoke, his tone soft. "That's what matters."

He could hear her snicker. "What a load of crap. You either succeed or you fail. It doesn't matter if you try. It's the end result that matters."

He shook his head, though she couldn't see it. "I don't think so. As long as you try, then there's nothing you should be sorry for."

He could hear her huff. "You really are an idiot, Third Child."

"Would you have blamed me if the roles were reversed?"

Even though he couldn't see her, he could just feel her sapphire eyes grow wide briefly at his question, almost like a sixth sense of sorts. She looked down at her black leather school shoes, contemplating her response. Asuka felt that Shinji already knew what her answer would be, so there was no reason to tell him. Instead she asked him a question of her own.

"Would you have felt guilty if you failed?"

The pilot of Unit 01 frowned. "Yeah." He nodded. "I would."

"Well you shouldn't, cause I wouldn't blame you."

Shinji's lips began to curl into a smile, and then a faint chuckle started to escape his lips. From outside he could hear Asuka beginning to do the same. Their stifled laughter carried on for a bit. Even though they couldn't see each other, they knew the other was smiling.

"I guess we both have an understanding, then." Shinji said as one last giggle escaped him.

"I guess so." Asuka kept her head lowered so that anyone walking by wouldn't see her faint grin. "It's good to have you back, Stupid Shinji."

"It's good to be back, Asuka."

"So I guess you'll be coming home tonight?"

He nodded, but then remembered she couldn't see him. "Yeah, I hope so."

"Then I'll see you later." She held her bandaged right hand in front of the doorway, and made a slight waving gesture. "You're still making dinner though. Misato's cooking sucks."

Shinji let a laugh escape him, coming out a bit louder than expected. "Sounds good to me."

"Bye, Shinji. I'll see you at home." Her hand pulled back from behind the doorway and away from Shinji's sight.

"Bye, Asuka." He replied, a grin spread from ear to ear. "I'll see you soon."

He could hear the sound of her hard leather soles clacking against the tiled floor as she made her way down the hall, growing fainter and fainter with each step. Taking a deep breath, Shinji laid down on his bed and looked back up at the unfamiliar ceiling, but kept his grin, because he knew that soon he would be feeling the warmth and comfort of the place he called home.


	9. 08

I must say I'm a little surprised how quickly I wrote this chapter. Also, I'm just going to apologize outright if this one is a bit on the boring side. Also, I only did one round of revision instead of my standard two, but that was because all of the errors I found were so small and simple that I felt there was no reason to run a second round (Not gonna lie, it's mainly because I'm antsy to start writing the next chapter).

So if there are any errors in spelling or grammar, please feel free to yell at me about my incompetence (I'm looking at you, RealRemaider).

Enjoy!

* * *

Even though Tokyo-3 had been the epicenter of Angel attacks, surprisingly its hospital received very few visitors. Often times those who came into its care were almost guaranteed to be in the morgue by the end of the night, so if anyone did come to 'visit' it was often to I.D. the bodies of the deceased.

The excessive funding that had been going to NERV in recent months had been draining large amounts of financial support for most government facilities in Japan. Hospitals, along with law enforcement, and postal services were hit the hardest by these budget cuts; making it so that any hospital outside of a NERV facility was almost guaranteed to give sub-par treatment.

This was one of the main reasons why NERV's employment rates had gone up since the first Angel attack. It wasn't because of the desire to preserve mankind, but because it was the only way for many to make enough money to get by. Most major doctors and surgeons jumped ship the moment the budget cuts were made, and joined NERV's medical team. A large handful of police officers also turned in their badges for NERV I.D. cards, realizing that a cushy security job was far better than attempting to keep the peace with a faulty weapon and a patrol car that hadn't seen maintenance in nearly a year. The postal workers were not so lucky though. Without skills that NERV desired, most of them were forced to stick with their jobs until they were either laid off or quit due to large pay cuts. The mail seemed to only come around once or twice a week these days.

Toji Suzuhara, the only visitor in Tokyo-3 Hospital, made his way down the nearly empty hall of the east wing. A few nurses passed him by, giving him friendly nods. The tall boy returned the gesture. The staff had grown to know Toji quite well since his sister was admitted. Every day he would come to visit if he could, and whenever he missed a day, he'd always bring some sort of present, let it be candy, a teddy bear, or even a handwritten letter to make up for missing a day. His kindness and generosity had not gone unnoticed by the staff. Many of the nurses and doctors had offered Toji what little they had to give, let it be some of their leftover lunch, access to the break room, or even rides home.

Despite their kindness, without the proper funding, they could only do so much for his sister. For months she had been here, not getting any better, but also not getting any worse either. During the attack of the third Angel, she had received a broken femur, tibia, fibula, and nearly tore all of the tendons in her right leg. Along with that was a severe concussion that took her almost a month to wake up from. The therapy had helped a little bit, but between being so young and the amount of damage that had been done to her there was only so much they could do for her with so little funding.

Toji sighed as he gazed at the door to her hospital room. In truth it hurt him every time he came here. It hurt him to see her small little body cooped up in a bed. She was a child. She was supposed to run around and play outside in the sun; not lie down for hours on end inside of a blank white room. Though she had remained strong, Toji could see in her eyes that it was getting hard for her to keep a smile. He could see that she growing depressed from being confined for so long. Every day he'd tell her she'd be getting out soon. Soon had yet to come though.

Taking in yet another deep breath, he placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it. Facing her was like walking into an emotional battlefield. He had to keep a positive façade for her sake, but every time he saw her now he just wanted to breakdown and cry.

"It's for her." He told himself before opening the door.

XXXXXXXXXX

Commander Ikari sat completely stationary at his desk in the middle of the darkened room. Around him were black, monolithic holograms with the SEELE insignia printed on them, as well as a number for each monolith ranging from one to seven. Before, the old men of the SEELE Committee had always used visual holograms of themselves. Recently though, for reasons that Ikari did not concern himself with, they had been solely using audio only instead.

Earlier they had been speaking with Major Katsuragi about the incident with the spherical Angel. They had actually wanted to speak with the pilot of Unit 01 himself about it, but the Major, his guardian, did not feel he was mentally stable enough to talk about it. Gendo, and the old men knew this was a lie. It had become clear that Misato's relationship with NERV, and SEELE by association had become very strained in the past few weeks. It was quite obvious that she was protecting Shinji, and wanted to keep him away from them as much as possible. However, her report to the Committee was sufficient enough to appease them for the time being. So there wasn't much to concern themselves with. In a few months, her lack of trust with them wouldn't matter anyways.

"When can we expect the Dummy Plug system to be ready by?" SEELE 01, Chairman Keel spoke, his old and raspy voice slightly distorted.

"The prototype is ready now." Ikari replied, his hands folded in place over his mouth. "You can expect the first one to be shipped to Germany in four to six weeks."

"That is still two months behind schedule." Keel kept his menacing tone, but didn't attempt to make himself sound overtly upset.

"We could've had them sent to you already if you didn't want for the mass produced Evangelion's Dummy System to be based on the thought patterns of your little pet instead of Rei's."

"Watch your tongue, Ikari." SEELE 03 snapped. Though the voice was hard to decipher, it sounded like the representative for the United States. "For the Human Instrumentality Project to be fulfilled, the Committee has determined it best for the MP EVAs Dummy System to be based on our specimen instead."

"I'm not questioning your judgment." Ikari's expression remained cold and stony. "I'm just informing you as to why we are so far behind schedule."

"Regardless," SEELE 06 intervened. "We expect to have results of the prototype's capabilities by the next meeting. Is that understood?"

"Of course." He replied without betraying any emotion. "We will be running field tests in the next few days. Once we have the results, I assure you will be the first to hear about them."

"We are losing our patience." SEELE 01 spoke. "If you cannot keep the schedule we have laid before you, we will find somebody else who will." With that, the monolithic holograms deteriorated into darkness. After a moment of sitting alone in the shadows, the lights around Commander Ikari came on to reveal the giant green room he was sitting in. Behind him stood Vice Commander Fuyutsuki, his hands clasped behind his back.

"I don't like this." The eldest of the two spoke. "Why do they want to use their specimen instead of Rei?"

"It doesn't matter." Ikari stood from his chair. "We do not need their EVAs to commence Instrumentality anyways. We will appease them and keep them happy for now though. In the end it won't matter." Gendo stepped past Kozo and exited the room, leaving the old man to lower his head and sigh.

Was Instrumentality truly what was best for the world? Were they so high and mighty that they could be the ones to determine the fate of all those who dared to continue living in this hellish, post apocalyptic world? It was a wretched role that he played in all this, but it wasn't about him anymore. It wasn't about the world even. It was about Yui.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What do you mean you forgot to make lunch?!" Asuka hissed between gritted teeth as she slammed her palms down on Shinji's desk.

"I.. I'm s.. sorry, Asuka." The sheepish boy leaned back in his seat, and looked up at the redhead, feeling the eyes of everyone in the classroom turning to the two of them. He never did like it when he was the center of attention, especially when it was because Asuka was going off on him. "I had to finish my homework and forgot to pack them."

"So I have to starve because _you_ had to finish your homework?!" Her face came a few inches closer to his, the intensity in her eyes stabbing into his own.

"I have some money. You can go get some from the cafeteria if you'd like." Shinji reached into his pocket and produced a handful of yen, presenting it to his furious classmate.

"Gross!" She stuck her nose up in disgust. "There's no way I'll _ever_ eat that disgusting cafeteria food!"

A few seats back, Toji rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Looks like the newly weds are fighting again."

The Second and Third Child felt chills run up their spines from his words, and their faces turned red-hot as the laughter from all the other students began to rain down on them. Their eyes turned to the lanky teenager who was sitting casually at his desk with his feet rested up on the table and his hands clasped behind his head.

"Shut up!" Both Shinji and Asuka growled. However their snapping at him only caused for the other students to giggle and laugh even more.

"But you two make such a cute couple!" Hikari chimed in.

Asuka turned to face her friend, looking as though she had just been betrayed. "Hikari…" She whined. "You're not supposed to be on _his_ side!"

She shrugged with a smile, causing her pigtails to bounce. "What can I say? You two _are_ always acting like an old married couple."

The redhead's sapphire eyes narrowed before she stormed out of the classroom, spewing out something in her native tongue. All of the students could only guess what she was saying, but they all knew it couldn't have been pleasant.

"You gonna go after her Shinji?" Toji nudged, still leaning back in his chair. "Gonna go hug and kiss to make her feel better?" More giggling followed from everyone in the room.

If Shinji's face could turn any hotter, steam would've been shooting out of his ears. "I… We're…" His head quickly turned left and right, catching sight of all the students looking at him with wide grins on their faces. "It's not like that!"

"_Sure_ it's not." Hikari tugged on his arm. "Go talk to her." Shinji could've easily resisted, but for some reason or another he just couldn't find the will to do it. Perhaps it was because he knew the moment he was out of the classroom, his classmates wouldn't be able to look at him. Or maybe it was because deep down he knew he did want to follow Asuka out the door, but was too afraid of giving himself away if he did. However if the class' reaction to Toji's remark was any indication, they already had him figured out.

By the time he had started to realize what was going on around him, Hikari and of her friends had already pushed him out the door and shut it behind him to ensure he couldn't come back inside. Ikari quickly snapped into reality, looking down the hall to see Asuka's red hair bouncing up and down as she stomped down the tiled corridor. Shinji couldn't help but notice her hair had grown much lighter since her arrival to Japan. When he met her on Over the Rainbow, her hair was a darker, almost auburn color. Now it was much lighter, almost a golden red. He passed this off to the fact that western Europe had been almost constantly cloudy ever since Second Impact, while Japan had been locked into a perpetual never ending Summer. Due to the nearly constant sunny weather, all of the sunlight must've brightened up her already gorgeous hair, making her even more beautiful in Shinji's eyes.

"Asuka, are you…"

"Go away, Shinji." Her voice echoed through the empty hall as she kept making her way away from him.

He began to scratch the back of his head and looked down at his feet. "Okay." He murmured, knowing that if she didn't want to talk then there was no reason to push her, lest he wish to have his head bitten off. "Sorry."

The redhead stopped in her tracks and stiffened her posture. She looked like she wanted to say something to him, probably to yell at him for apologizing again. He couldn't help it though, it was his conditioned reaction to conflict. Even when trying not to do it, it was always hard to catch himself before letting the word escape him. To some degree, Asuka was aware of that, which was more than likely the reason why she took in a deep breath before loosening up her posture and continued her trek down the hall, leaving Shinji behind to stand alone in the hallway.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oh my God." Misato gasped, placing her hand over her mouth as she looked at the sight displayed on the monitor before her. The image showed a satellite photo of what was the American NERV Branch in Nevada, or all that remained of it for that matter. It looked like nothing more than a giant crater in the earth that spanned for well over a hundred kilometers. Closer inspection revealed the remnants of Las Vegas to the western most section of the crater. However the location in which NERV's Second Branch was located was completely gone, as though it had never existed in the first place.

Maya spouted out the details of the events that had occurred leading up to the catastrophe that the Major was looking at. It seemed that it all went wrong during an activation test for EVA Unit 04, which was testing out a prototype of the S2 engine. Though Misato wasn't exactly kept in the know about NERV's experimental technology outside of the weapons department, she had heard plenty about the S2 engine from Ritsuko, and what Dr. Akagi didn't disclose with her, Kaji filled her in on.

By design it was meant to make the usage of umbilical cables obsolete. The S2 engine could theoretically power an Evangelion indefinitely, and also produce an infinite amount of energy output. The only problem with this was that though the S2 engine could produce unlimited power, the Evangelions, and their pilots did have limits that could not be surpassed without bringing harm to them. Though Misato wasn't a scientist, if she had to make a guess as to what caused this disaster, that had to have something to do with it.

"We believe that during the activation test a Dirac sea formed, one not too dissimilar from the one we encountered with the previous Angel, and sucked in the entirety of NERV's Second Branch." Dr. Akagi explained. "Though Unit 04 was completely lost in the incident, the United States military was able to extract Unit 03."

"What are they going to do with Unit 03 without a NERV Branch to operate it from?" Misato crossed her arms and kept her gaze locked on the screen.

"It's going to become our problem, of course." The faux blonde threw her eyes over to Katsuragi, handing her a document attached to her clipboard.

Misato snagged the piece of paper from her, tracing her eyes up and down it. The U.S. emblem of an Eagle with an olive branch in one talon and thirteen arrows in the other was underlain by the text. As she read it, it became quite apparent to her that the United States would be dumping Evangelion Unit 03 into their care before she even got to the fourth paragraph.

"Wonderful." She sighed. "So now they're giving us a potentially unstable EVA Unit."

"Which is why its activation test will be at Matsushiro."

"You mean you've already found a pilot for it?" Misato raised her eyes to the doctor and gave her an inquisitive stare, cocking an eyebrow.

"Meet me in my office, we'll discuss it in more detail there." Akagi seemed almost dismissive of her question.

"I didn't receive a notification from the Marduk Institute."

"Like I said," Ritsuko narrowed her eyes slightly. "We'll discuss this in my office." Ritsuko said before turning back to the rest of the NERV staff, continuing her presentation on the Nevada incident.

Misato shook her head as she looked back down at the document. Unit 03 and 04 were made to be a twin series, meaning that their programs and configurations were practically identical. Even if the activation test was done without using the S2 engine, the list of possibilities as to what could go wrong was endless. Also the sudden discovery of the Fourth Child didn't sit right with her either. It just seemed too coincidental that they would've found a pilot just as Unit 03 was to be unexpectedly transferred to Japan. She also had a feeling that Ritsuko would hardly give her any of the information that she needed. That was fine though, Katsuragi had her own personal informant now.

Once Ritsuko dismissed the rest of the staff, she waved over at Misato as she made her way out of the dimly lit room. The two silently traversed down the busy halls of NERV Headquarters, weaving between lowly staff members and technicians. After a brief trip through the elevator and a few turns they found themselves in her rather small office. Even though she was the head scientist at NERV, it was a bit surprising that her office was so small. However it was just large enough to house all of her cat memorabilia.

"So why wasn't I informed that we found the Fourth Child?" Misato couldn't even wait for the automatic door to shut all the way before asking.

"You will receive all the necessary paperwork in due time, Major Katsuragi." She replied, taking a seat at her desk. "All you need to know is that we have a core ready for them, and they will pilot Unit 03."

All you need to know.

That was a phrase Misato was getting sick of hearing. Akagi might as well have just said 'All I'm going to tell you is…'. Ritsuko had possibly the most superior mind of the last fifty years, save for her own mother, but Misato wasn't anywhere near as mentally inferior as Ritsuko may have led herself to believe. Misato could tell when she was being kept in the dark, and she had a feeling that Dr. Akagi was slowly but surely starting to grow aware of that.

"Well can you at least tell me who the pilot is?"

"Of course." The blonde made a few rapid keystrokes, causing for a new screen to come up. As soon as Misato laid her eyes upon the visage, they grew wide with shock.

"Him?!" She grabbed the back of Ritsuko's chair and brought her face closer to the monitor, unable to believe who she was looking at. "He's the Fourth Child?!"

"Indeed." Dr. Akagi wasn't fazed at all.

"He's in Shinji's class though. How is it that he of all people…"

Ritsuko cut her off. "All of the students in Class 2-A are potential candidates for becoming EVA pilots. We thought it was best to keep them grouped together like this for the sake of ease."

"I can't believe this." The lavender haired woman shook her head. "Asuka will be fine. She's only concerned with piloting the EVA. Rei won't be a problem either, but if Shinji hears about this…"

"He'll do what, exactly?" Ritsuko turned to face Misato, a rather serious look on her face.

"He just won't take it well."

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, Major, but even before Second Impact the world wasn't about having everything go your way. Shinji will just have to deal with it. If he doesn't like the idea of his friend being the pilot of Unit 03, he'll have to take that up with him. Besides, we cannot force the children to pilot the Evangelions. They must do it of their own freewill."

Misato remained silent. She hated to say it, but Ritsuko was right. NERV never forced any of their pilots to get into the EVA Units. Even when they were summoned for a mission, they always came of their own choice. If the new pilot of Unit 03 were to accept, then that was his choice to make. Even if Shinji didn't like it, it was not his place to make that decision.

"I'll be having a meeting with the Fourth Child tomorrow." Ritsuko broke the silence. "And the activation test is slated to be held three days from now."

"Understood." Misato sighed, lowering her head.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Toji." Hikari's voice rang through his ears, causing him to turn his attention from the window to her.

"Yeah?" He replied, leaning his broom up against a nearby desk. Class had let out already, and most of the students had already left while Toji was stuck with class duty for the week. Though he didn't mind doing the work, he was a little bit irritable that it delayed him from visiting his sister.

"Could you drop off these papers for Rei?" She asked, holding up a small stack of notes from the day's lessons.

Inwardly he grimaced, knowing that now he wouldn't have time to visit his sister today. "Sure." He nodded, taking the papers from the Class Representative's hands. "I don't know where it is though."

The brunette's eyes lit up, and her smile became perky. "I can go with yo-"

"Hey, Shinji!" Toji called out to the brown haired boy who was just about to make his way out of the door, causing him to stop and look his way. "Wanna show me the way to Rei's?"

Honestly, he didn't. There hadn't been any sign of Asuka since she stormed off in the middle of lunch. Though Shinji knew she hated it when he did, he couldn't help but worry about her. Being a good friend though, he accepted Toji's request. "Yeah." He nodded. "I can show you."

Hikari began to look slightly deflated, letting a sigh escape her. In recent days she'd started to grow an innocent fondness of Toji. Her older sister, who worked as an intern at Tokyo-3 Hospital, told her about his almost daily visits to his sister over dinner a few nights prior. After that, she couldn't help but see Toji in the light of a sweet and caring person. It also helped that she had had a infatuation with him since the beginning of the school year, but was always too afraid to show it.

"Hey, Hikari?" Shinji caught her attention. "Could you do me a favor and check on Asuka?" He asked before making his way out the door with Toji. "She's probably at home, and I just want to make sure she's okay, ya know?"

"Uh, yeah." She nodded. "Sure."

Shinji replied with a nod of his own before leaving the room. After stepping out into the hallway, Toji made a smart remark about him and Asuka that he could only catch part of. Shrugging, he brushed off the comment as the two made their way out of the school.

XXXXXXXXXX

Asuka averted her gaze from the television when she hard the sound of knocking coming from the front door. By this time she had already traded in her school uniform for a slightly large yellow t-shirt and a pair of shorts that barely covered what they needed to.

"Stupid Shinji." She murmured, getting up from the couch. "Next time you forget your key, I'm not letting you in!" She shouted as she made her way to the door, the pads of her bare feet growing cold as they touched the brisk wooden floor in the hallway.

Once the redhead opened the door, she found herself momentarily taken back by the sight of the person standing before her. She was expecting to see Shinji awkwardly looking down at his feet, fearing a verbal lashing from her. Instead she was met by a brunette girl with short pigtails, and her eyes betrayed her concern.

"Asuka?" Hikari said sheepishly.

"Oh, hey Hikari." The pilot of Unit 02 loosened her expression and brushed her bangs out of her face, trying to make herself look slightly presentable for her friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Shinji asked for me to come check on you." She seemed just the slightest bit nervous, probably because the last time she saw Asuka, she was teasing her just as the rest of the class was.

The redhead let out a sigh and rolled her eyes in annoyance, though not at her friend. "Of course he did." She shook her head. "Come on in." Asuka waved for the Class Rep to enter before heading back into the living room where she plopped down lazily onto the couch, Hikari following right behind her. "So is Stupid Shinji too scared to talk to me and sent you to do it instead?"

"No, actually." The brunette shook her head, placing her hands in her lap and straightening up her posture, a strong contrast to Asuka, who was sprawled out with her arms resting on the back of the couch and her legs spread out farther than what would be considered ladylike. "He and Toji went to go deliver some notes for Ayanami."

"Of course he did." She scoffed, beginning to sound more and more dejected by the second.

"Are you alright, Asuka?" Hikari's expression of concern began to grow more worrisome. "I'm sorry if its about us teasing you and Shinji. I didn't meant to…"

"It's fine." The redhead murmured. Hikari waited for her to say something else, but all that came after was silence. Asuka's eyes remained on the flickering lights of the television, seemingly detaching herself from the conversation.

"Asuka," Hikari finally nudged. "something is bothering you. What is it?"

"I have to live under the same roof as an idiotic pervert who forgets to make my lunch. What do you think is bothering me?" Her ice blue eyes didn't move from the television, and her tone remained detached.

Hikari frowned. "But you and Shinji used to be kinda close. You two used to even spend lunch together every now and then."

"That's when I thought he might not have been such an idiot."

"Oh, c'mon, Asuka. He can't be _that_ bad?" She tried to put on a smile. "I mean he's nice, and he really does seem to care about you."

Asuka's eyes traveled towards the kitchen, memories of what her and Shinji had done in there flashing through her mind's eye. "You have no idea." She mumbled, letting her thoughts pour out of her mouth.

"See!" Hikari moved one of her hands and placed in on Asuka's knee in a friendly gesture. "Even you know that he cares about you."

"Shinji's an idiot, and that's that." Asuka exhaled. "Look, I appreciate you coming over and all, but you should probably go home, Hikari."

Her friend pulled her hand away from Asuka and placed it back in her lap. She tried to think of something else to say to her, something to make her friend open up to her. However this was a battle that she was smart enough to know she couldn't win.

"Alright." She nodded, getting up from the couch. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah." Asuka nodded back, but didn't look at her. "See ya tomorrow."

After standing idly for a moment, Hikari turned towards the hall and made her way out of the apartment, the sound of the front door opening and closing filled the living room while Asuka kept her eyes on the show playing on the television, not paying the least bit of attention to it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji led his lanky friend around the corner of the secluded back alley leading to Rei's apartment complex in the southern sector of Tokyo-3. Despite the rundown nature of the area, it wasn't a very bad part of town. If anything it was just the part of Tokyo-3 that everyone had forgotten about. A long since abandon newspaper stand stood alone outside of the complex. The dates on the papers left inside it were from 2011, a testament to how long it had been since this section of town had seen any life.

Though Shinji wasn't familiar with the history of Tokyo-3, he remembered hearing something about this part of the city being around long before Second Impact, and when the Japanese Government decided to build Tokyo-3, they merely built around what would become the southern sector of the city, leaving it untouched for the most part. With a lack thereof of the state-of-the-art technology which Tokyo-3 was built upon, the southern sector quickly emptied out within a few years as its residents moved to the more up to date areas of the city.

"This place sure is a dump." The sound of a can rolling against the floor echoed through the dimly lit halls of the apartment as Toji kicked an empty soda can lying on the ground. "How can someone live in a place like thi-"

"We're here." Shinji said as he stepped in front of Rei's door. Toji silenced himself as Ikari knocked on the cheaply made wooden door, only to receive no response. "Rei?" Shinji called, hoping to get an answer. Alas, there was none.

"Just slip it through the mail slot, and let's get out of here." Suzuhara suggested, pulling his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms. "This place gives me the creeps."

Shinji shook his head and pointed down to the stuffed mail slot. "She'll never get it if we do that."

"Then just slip it under the door or somethin-" He stopped when he saw Shinji turn the doorknob and slowly open the door. "Hey, Shinji! Whatcha doin?" He uncrossed his arms and stepped forward. "You can't just barge in like tha-" He stopped himself as he looked through the open door into her apartment.

It was small, just as he had expected it would be in a place like this. Three rooms. A bedroom that doubled up as a living room, a small kitchen to the right, and what he could only assume was a bathroom behind the door to the left. What struck him was how messy it was. Scattered throughout the floor were handfuls of bandages with blood stains on them that had long since turned brown over the course of time. Food wrappings and various disposable paper plates and cups were strewn about, and the top drawer from her dresser laid on the cold floor, white panties and bras scattered around it.

Shinji shook his head as he stepped inside. "Rei? Are you here?" He called, only to receive no answer in return.

"Shinji," Toji touched his shoulder. "We should probably just drop off the notes and get out of here."

"We'll be fine. She won't care if we're here." He shrugged, knowing how Rei wouldn't seem the least bit taken back by having them in her apartment. The most she would do would be to simply ask why they were there, if even that. Shinji took the stack of notes and placed them neatly on the top of bed before bending down and scooping up the old bandages.

"What are you doing?" Suzuhara stepped into the bedroom, throwing Shinji a puzzled look.

"I'm cleaning." He answered, not letting his friend deter him from fixing up the messy apartment. "These bandages have to be at least four months old."

"Gross." He cringed. "How do you know that?"

"Because they were here when I came over four months ago." Shinji answered, scooping up the last of the stained bandages.

"Why didn't she just throw them away? That can't be very sanitary."

Shinji's eyes traveled over to the drawer full of panties and bras, narrowing them as he considered Toji's question. "I don't know." He replied as he got up to dump the bandages into a trashcan. Once they were disposed of, Ikari made his way over to the drawer and folded the underwear that had been scattered about the floor.

"Hey, uh, Shinji?" Toji started scratching the back of his head. "Isn't that stuff kinda, ya know? Personal?"

Shinji stopped for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain this to Toji. He couldn't just say that the last time he came over he accidentally pulled the drawer out just before falling on top of Rei's naked body, inadvertently grabbing her breast in the process.

"Trust me." He said as he folded a pair of white panties. "It's fine."

"If you say so." Toji crossed his arms again and took a seat in a nearby chair.

As Shinji continued folding the clothes, he couldn't help but wonder to himself why these hadn't been put up yet. The best he could recall, this was exactly how they had all been left after that incident. Had Rei just not touched them since then? Though he didn't know her on that personal of a level, he didn't think that Ayanami was the type of person to continually wear the same clothes for such long periods of time without washing them. If she did, he figured he'd have probably picked up on the smell already.

Once the clothes had been folded and put up properly, he put the drawer back inside the dresser. All that remained now was various food trash that could easily be picked up and thrown away. Once he started doing that, he could hear the sound of the front door opening.

Shinji and Toji turned to face the blue haired girl as she made her way into her home, not seeming fazed by them in the slightest. "Hello, Ikari." She greeted, putting her book bag down on her bed. "Hello, Suzuhara."

"Hey." They both greeted in unison. Though Shinji sounded much more casual than Toji, who was still a bit surprised to see how right Shinji was about Ayanami not caring about their uninvited presence in her home.

"We dropped some notes off for you." Toji nudged his head towards her bed, causing Rei to look towards the stack of papers on the mattress.

"I see." She replied before turning her eyes to Shinji, who was still on the floor. "Ikari, what are you doing?"

"Oh." He looked up at her, his hazel eyes meeting her crimson. "Sorry. I was just doing some cleaning. That's all."

She raised an eyebrow. "Cleaning?"

"Yeah." He nodded, picking up the last bit of trash on the floor, carrying it over to the trashcan. "I saw your apartment was a little bit messy, so I decided to clean it up a bit."

Ayanami's red eyes went wide, and slowly a faint blush began to appear in her cheeks. Ikari found this a bit strange, as she was acting like nobody had ever done her such a kindness before. "T..thank you." She managed to let out, feeling a warmness in her cheeks.

Shinji and Toji kept a rather confused look as they both stared at her. It wasn't like Shinji had gone very far out of his way to do this. It was just a simple act of generosity, yet Rei looked as though he had just done her the ultimate kindness.

"It's no big deal." Shinji said, scratching the back of his head and averting his eyes to a far off wall. as he always did in these awkward situations

"Still," The blue haired girl stepped up next to him. "thank you." Before Shinji could react, Rei wrapped her arms around him and held him in a very light hug, being sure not to allow their bodies to touch one another. Toji and Shinji were both taken back by this, exchanging glances with one another as Rei kept the hug going for a bit before loosening her arms from around him.

"I guess we should be going now." Ikari laughed, trying to ease the blanket of awkwardness that had covered him. "We'll see you in class tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes." She nodded. "I… I will be there."

With that, Shinji and Toji said their goodbyes to her before heading out the door, leaving her to stand in her apartment and go over all the things that had just happened. For the first time that she could ever, someone had done something for her not because they felt obligated to, but simply because of sheer generosity. Never before had she ever felt thankful for anything. Yet with one simple act, Ikari made her feel what it was like.

"I've never said thank you to anyone before." She murmured to herself. "Not even him." She turned her crimson eyes over to the partially melted glasses sitting on her dresser next to the papers.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sound of footsteps on the grated floor of the catwalk echoed throughout the darkened hangar as Chairman Keel walked along side Andrew McDonald, a United States ambassador who served directly under General Maddox, America's official representative of SEELE. He was notably young for someone in his position. His almost boyish features and shaggy blonde hair betrayed his lack of experience, giving him the look of someone fresh out of college. However his posture spoke strongly of his confidence. Keel wasn't quite sure how someone as young as him could be serving as Maddox's right hand man, but from what he could tell, the boy was quite bright, if a little overeager.

He arrived in Germany earlier that day on behalf of the General, who was too busy dealing with the situation in Nevada to make the trip himself. This was a visit that could've easily waited until a more convenient time. However the U.S. was getting antsy and wanted an update on the new EVA series. Though this entire visit could be all for naught, since America as a whole would very likely not wish to partake in the construction of mass produced Evangelions after the Unit 04 incident.

Keel assumed this was one of the reasons why Maddox flew his lackey over to Germany. If the United States wasn't given a good reason to support the new EVA Series Project, then they wouldn't wish to take any part in it, fearing that another incident would occur like the one in Nevada.

"Pardon me if I haven't said this yet, but I wish to give you and your nation my deepest condolences." Keel truly could've cared less about it, and he knew McDonald was probably smart enough to see through that as well. However it was a façade all politicians had to carry; pretending to care about things when they could honestly just not give a damn.

"I appreciate it." He replied, putting his hands in the pockets of his black dress pants. "Fortunately I didn't know anyone personally who was affected by it. Although I can only imagine how terrified that little boy was when the S2 engine backfired on him."

"When Ikari completes the Dummy Plug System, children will no longer need to risk their lives by piloting the Evangelions." Keel spoke, clasping his hands behind the small of his back as he continued down the catwalk.

"Wasn't the Dummy Plug supposed to be ready by now?"

"We were met with some delays." He sighed. "Commander Ikari programmed NERV's Dummy Plugs to use the thought patterns of Rei Ayanami, one of Ikari's own pilots."

"And you wanted to use the boy?"

"Correct." Keel nodded. "We feel that he would be much more suitable for the goal we have in mind than Ayanami."

"Aside from the Dummy Plug, shouldn't Unit 05 be battle ready?"

"Not quite." The Chairman came to a stop, prompting Andrew to stop as well. Keel turned to the railing, and looked off into the darkness of the hangar. It was hard to see anything other than the catwalk due to the lack of lights, save for the ones dangling above their heads. "Our research and development team is still working on perfecting their weapons."

"You can build a fully functional Evangelion with an S2 engine that works properly, but you haven't completed the weapon yet? What on earth could make developing their weapons so difficult?"

"That is classified." Keel kept his cold scowl as he looked off into the darkness.

McDonald gave the Chairman a bit of an inquisitive stare. Having a rank as high as his made the word 'classified' something he rarely heard. However he was smart enough to know that he was in no position to pry, nor was he that interested, really. He was just here to see if the EVA was functional and stable. He could've cared less about the little trinkets and toys they were developing for them.

With a flip of a switch, the lights in the darkened hangar came to life, revealing the colossal machine that stood before them. At first the ambassador jumped back with fright upon seeing the monstrous visage that had been hiding in the shadows just a few meters away from him.

Like most Evangelions, it sported a human-like frame with a narrow abdominal section, giving it a slightly feminine physique. It had white plated armor with black underarmor that could be seen between the white plates on its torso. Unlike most other EVAs he had seen, it did not sport the shoulder pylons where weapons were carried, and in turn gave it a slightly more slimmer look than a standard Evangelion. Its most distinguishing quality of all was undoubtedly its head. It was long and fish-like, with no eyes, nose, or any features other than a wide mouth with red lips that was formed in such a way as to give it a sickening smile.

"What the hell is that thing?" Despite his strong presence, he couldn't help but falter a bit at the sight of the beast that stood idly before him.

"That, my friend, is the future of the EVA Series. _That_ is Unit 05, the first of twelve."

"And America is supposed to build three of these things?"

"That was the deal SEELE had worked out with the United States Government, yes."

McDonald shook his head. "Is there any way you can change the face?"

Keel turned to face the young man. If it wasn't for his visor being in the way, Andrew would've been able to see him narrow his old, beady eyes. "I don't understand?"

"Look, after the Unit 04 incident, America just doesn't want to take part in the EVA Series anymore. They're afraid of the Evangelions, and if you present them with something like… like this," He motioned his arms towards the robot standing in the middle of the hangar. "everyone in D.C. is going to vote against it in a heartbeat!"

Keel's constant scowl began to grow longer. "Unit 05 is perfectly functional. I see no reason why the Americans would vote against it. Simple aesthetics mean nothing."

"Congressmen are just like voters; they're stupid." Andrew shook his head. "They don't care about how well it functions. They want something that looks like a savior, not something that looks like the monsters we're fighting."

"You can't be serious?" Keel growled.

"The only reason the U.S. even accepted the proposal for the construction of Unit 03 and 04 was because everyone was onboard with the Anti-Angel campaign at the time. Even then the popular opinion was that the Evangelion's design was too frightening for the general public to fully get behind."

"I don't give a damn about public opinion!" He spat. "The new EVA Series is fully functional and they have nothing to fear of it!"

McDonald held his hands up as if to say he surrendered. "I know, I know, I know. Believe me, I know. I'll do everything I can to sway the old men in Washington, but I can't guarantee anything."

Keel's scowl started to turn back into a frown. Even if they couldn't bribe the United States enough to accept SEELE's proposal, they only needed nine anyways, and all other nations involved were showing no signs of backing out. However if the United States couldn't get behind the construction of the MP EVAs, then that made General Maddox completely useless. After a moment of contemplation, Keel considered for a moment a possible project that could suite more to America's liking. The project Keel had in mind was slated to be built in Germany, but moving it to America would undoubtedly make preparation of Instrumentality much easier. Not only that, but the Congressmen would practically salivate over this project. After all, it was something that all American's liked.

It was unstoppable.

"Perhaps there is an alternative." Keel grinned, something he rarely ever did.

"I'm listening." McDonald straightened up his posture, and listened intently to the Chairman's new proposal.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Toji, Suzuhara, please report to the principle's office." The loud speaker echoed throughout the school just after the lunch bell rang. The entire class of 2-A threw their eyes his way, as if to ask him why he was being called there. The lanky teenager merely shrugged at them, knowing just as much as they did about this unexpected summoning. He couldn't think of anything he had done recently that would warrant being called in to speak with the principle, at least not anything anyone would know about.

Slowly, he pulled himself out of his seat, feeling the eyes of all the students around him locking their gazes on him. Though Toji didn't mind being the center of attention, he couldn't help but feel a little bit awkward with all these eyes watching him. Feeling uncomfortable about it all, he quickly made his way out of the door and into the hall, leaving the stares behind.

"You called me, Mr. Muramoto?" He asked as he opened the door to the principle's office just next to the front lobby.

"Hello, Mr. Suzuhara." The person sitting in the elderly principle's desk was not Mr. Muramoto, but instead a lady he had never seen before in his life. She was a young woman, with attractive features and what Toji could only assume was dyed blonde hair, judging by her roots and brown eyebrows. Though she was admittedly pretty, he couldn't help but feel a daunting aura radiating from her.

"Um," His eyes traced to his left and right, looking for the older gentlemen that was the principle of the school, only finding a bookshelf to his left, and a post-it board to his right. "Where is Mr. Mura-"

"Mr. Muramoto isn't the one who called you." She pulled her hand out from behind the desk and extended it. "I did." Her tone seemed warm, but something about it didn't quite sit right with Toji as he extended his hand to shake hers. "My name is Doctor Ritsuko Akagi. I work for NERV. It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Suzuhara."

"It's nice to meet you too." He acted a bit more reserved than normal, not quite sure what was going on. "Is this about Shinji?"

"Oh, no." She shook her head. "On the contrary, this is about you."

"Me?" He pointed to himself, making a perplexed look.

"Why don't you just go ahead and take a seat? We have a lot to talk about." Ritsuko pointed to a chair on the opposite side of the large wooden desk, prompting for Suzuhara to cautiously take a seat in it, still trying to assess the situation.

"What is all this about?" He asked, crossing his arms, forming a shield of sorts between him and Dr. Akagi.

"I'm going to be quite frank with you, Toji." Akagi clasped her hands together on the desk, and leaned back in her chair. "You have been selected as a potential recruit for Evangelion Unit 03. Are you at all interested?"

Suzuhara went wide eyed for a moment, but then straightened up his expression. "Sorry, but no way." He shook his head. "I've been inside one of those things before, and that was one time too many."

Ritsuko frowned faintly, letting out a sigh. "You have a sister, correct? Sakura Suzuhara?"

Toji felt himself jump back in his chair upon hearing the name. "H..how do you know about her?"

"NERV keeps tabs on all of its potential pilot candidates. Including their families." She explained, throwing a knowing look at the boy. "We also are well aware of your sister's current condition."

"Leave her out of this!" He stood up, causing for Ritsuko to blink, but not flinch.

"Mr. Suzuhara," Akagi closed her eyes and kept a calm tone, raising her clasped hands from the table to just over her mouth before opening her eyes again. "we at NERV are well aware that the hospital she's located at is not exactly the best medical facility in the world She's been in the care of Tokyo-3 Hospital for months now and is showing no real signs of recovery. We can fix that, however."

Toji narrowed his eyes. "I'm listening."

"NERV has the best medical care facilities in the world. However, they are only available to NERV personnel and their families. Seeing as how you share no direct relation with anyone currently working at NERV, this makes us unable to accept Sakura into our care." Her eyes started to narrow just a little. "However, if you choose to become the pilot of Unit 03, then we can accept Sakura into our care, where she will receive the best medical treatment not even money can buy."

He fell back in his seat, and crossed his arms again. "You promise that she'll be taken care of?"

"Of course." Ritsuko smiled underneath her hands. She knew she had him on the hook.

"You promise that even if something happens to me, you guys will keep treating her?"

"Any direct family to NERV personnel are always welcome at our medical facilities." She wasn't lying.

"Fine." He nodded. "I'll do it."

"Good." She replied, pulling out an inch thick stack of papers from under the desk. "We'll need for you to sign this." Ritsuko thumbed through the pages, reaching the last one, and presented it to the boy. At the bottom of a wall of text, were blank lines. One for his signature, the other for the date.

As Ritsuko handed him a pen, he started to have a weary feeling about all this. Something about essentially signing away his life without so much as reading a single bit of the document just felt like a terrible idea. However he didn't care what NERV did with him. He didn't care if he would belong to NERV. He didn't care if he died even. He just wanted for Sakura to get better, and they could do that, so he signed right on the dotted line.

XXXXXXXXXX

Asuka took in a deep breath, facing the closed door before her. She was running on fumes. Last night was a rough night, but that type of thing had started to become common with her. She hadn't had this many reoccurring nightmares since she was six years old, but that wasn't what was truly bothering her. What was bothering her wasn't occurring in the dream world, but the real one.

Her knuckles knocked against the wooden door, sending a hollow knock through it. At first there was no response, but after about five seconds or so, one finally came, much to Asuka's relief.

"Come in." Kaji's voice traveled through the door to Asuka, prompting her to turn the doorknob and pull it open. Her mentor was sitting in front of his computer, the light from the monitor framing the outline of his head as he turned to face her. Upon seeing the redhead, he turned back to face the screen, not even giving her a second glance. "Oh, hi Asuka. Can this wait? I'm kinda in the middle of something right now." He said as he continued typing away on his keyboard.

"Oh." She solemnly lowered her blue eyes to the floor, her tone sounding more disappointed than upset. "Sorry." She nodded. "Just give me a call or something when you can."

Kaji cocked an eyebrow as he heard Asuka's feet start to move as she made her way back out the door. Something about her tone and the way she presented herself was in such a way that he'd never seen her act before. At first he thought she was merely here for his attention, however upon hearing her tone he could tell almost instantly that something was bothering her. This wasn't at all like her. In all the years he'd known the fiery redhead, never had he heard her sound so disheartened before.

"Asuka," He spun his chair around to face her again, causing her to stop before exiting the room. "What's wrong?"

Her sapphire eyes looked over her shoulder as they met Kaji's. "I just…" She looked away from him, being unable to look him in the eyes and lie to him. "I've been having a dream lately, and it's really been bothering me."

Her mentor leaned forward in his chair, resting his chin in his palm. "I'm listening."

Asuka sighed, and leaned her back against the wall. She was starting to feel embarrassed. She hated asking for help or advice, even if it was from Kaji, the one person on Earth that she fully trusted. "It's weird." She started, looking up at the florescent lights glowing above her. "It starts out with…." She paused for a moment, trying to think a way to present her dilemma in a way that wouldn't give away the truth. "It starts out with me wanting to pilot Unit 02." She nodded to herself, realizing she had come up with a good way to share her problem without giving away what was truly bothering her. "I get inside the Entry Plug, but then all of a sudden I'm afraid to pilot it." She looked down from the lights, and took a look at Kaji, seeing that she had his undivided attention. She felt a lightness in her chest to know that he was listening. "I mean, I want to pilot it, but its like I'm afraid its going to hurt me." She lowered her head, breaking her gaze with him once again. "Or that _I'm_ going to hurt it."

Kaji scratched his chin, running his fingers though his stubble. "And you want to overcome that fear, don't you?"

Asuka nodded, her head still tilted down and her golden red bangs shielding her eyes. "Yeah." She murmured.

"Why do you think Unit 02 will hurt you? It's never hurt you in the past." Something about his tone told Asuka that he could see through her story, though she wasn't entirely sure.

"I don't know." She shrugged, a hint of agitation in her voice. "Its just like every time I try to get into Unit 02 in my dream, I feel like I have to put my guard up."

Kaji raised himself out of his chair and walked up to Asuka, placing two fingers under her chin, and rose her head up so that her eyes could meet him and his warm smile. Three months ago, Asuka would've seen this as a romantic gesture. Now she saw it more as an act of genuine kindness. When her wide sapphire eyes met his deep brown, she could instantly remember why she had a schoolgirl crush on him to begin with. It wasn't him being older and more mature. It wasn't his good looks. It was that he actually cared about her. Even though his feelings for her were not the least bit romantic, it had been so long since someone had shown her genuine care that she couldn't help but latch onto him. Now that she understood that, Asuka felt the lightness in her chest turn into a warmth, knowing that no matter what she always had a friend in him.

"Sometimes we have to put our guard down, Asuka." He removed his fingers from under her chin and placed his hands in his pockets. "I know that's hard for you to do, but it's a risk we all have to take at some point in time. Unless you want to be all alone."

"What if I get hurt, though?" She would never allow for herself to sound this helpless around anyone else other than Kaji. "What if putting my guard down just gets me hurt?"

"Then we pick up the pieces and move on." He made a half-smile in an attempt to ease the bluntness of the blow that was the ways of life. "But I don't think you have to worry too much about that." He gave her a knowing wink, causing for Asuka to blush slightly, realizing that he must've known what was actually bothering her.

"Just promise me you won't tell anyone about this." Her eyes narrowed and her tone became playfully agitated.

"Don't worry." He pulled his right hand out of his pocket and extended his pinky to her. "I promise."

Asuka had to stifle a laugh. This was actually a callback to when they first met when she was only ten years old. They spent most of the day riding around in his convertible while Kaji gave her a tour of Germany's NERV Branch. At the end of the day he took her out to get some ice cream, and while eating, through strategic use of puppy eyes and her relentless tenacity, she was able to convince him to let her drive his car up and down a back road.

It didn't go anywhere near as disastrous as it could've been. As a matter of fact, Asuka thought she did pretty damn well at driving a car with no prior experience. However it certainly wasn't something that Kaji could easily get away with if some of the senior staff found out about it.

"_Asuka,"_ He turned to face the young girl, sitting in the driver's seat, her head barely sticking above the steering wheel. _"Promise me, you won't tell anyone about this, okay?"_

"_I promise, Mr. Kaji." _The little girl extended her arm towards him, presenting an extended pinky. _"This will be our secret!"_

After making a smirk, her mentor extended his own and wrapped it around hers.

Feeling a smile start to take form on her face from the fond memory, Asuka extended her pinky as well, wrapping it around Kaji's.

"Asuka," He spoke once they released their digits from one another. "I've got some work to do. But if you want to talk more about this later, just give me a call."

"Thanks Kaji." The redhead leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her mentor, clinging onto him as tightly as she could. "You're the best." As she embraced him in the hug, she couldn't help but notice a flickering light coming from his computer's monitor. A portrait of someone appeared on the screen. A portrait of someone she knew. "What the…" Asuka let go of Kaji and started to make her way past him, towards the computer.

"Asuka, you shouldn't…" He tried to reach out and grab her arm, but she pulled it away from him before he could grasp her.

"Is that Toj-" She stopped the moment she read the text above his picture, and her eyes went wide.

Suzuhara, Toji: Official Pilot of Unit 03.

Asuka felt a sudden hotness in her cheeks as she recalled the idiot whom she'd despised since the day she met him. The one whom she only tolerated because he was Shinji's friend. Her face began to turn red with anger as she took this in, all the warm and happy feelings she'd been feeling not but a few seconds ago instantly become replaced with unbridled rage and anger.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Toji leaned back in his seat, feeling both physically and emotionally drained. The sun was starting to set, and he hadn't started his class duties yet. He hadn't even gotten a chance to eat his lunch yet. There was no chance he'd be getting to see Sakura today, but he could at least take a little bit of solace in knowing that the next time he'd see her, he'd get to tell her that she'd be moving to a new hospital where she'd be receiving better care.

"Toji?" A female voice called, causing him to raise his eyes up from his sandwich to the brunette standing at the door. "You haven't cleaned up the desks yet?" Hikari sounded more concerned for him than his duties. "It's almost six o' clock, ya know?"

"Yeah." He took a bite out of his sandwich, chewing a bit before continuing. "Sorry about that. I'll get it done. I just haven't had a chance to eat yet."

The Class Rep stepped forward, making her way up to his desk. "That's right. You were called out during lunch. What was that about, anyways?"

Suzuhara frowned, and placed his sandwich down on the napkin laid before him. "It was nothing. Just some stuff about my sister. That's all."

Hikari's eyes went wide. "Oh no! Is everything alright?!"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's fine." He rose his eyes from his half eaten sandwich back to the girl standing next to him. "Actually, they were telling me she's going to be moving to another hospital. So she's going to be getting better treatment."

"That's wonderful!" Hikari sounded genuinely happy about this, causing for Toji to smile. "I'm so happy for you two!"

"When she's moved to this new hospital, you can come visit her with me if you want." Suzuhara offered, knowing that someone as caring as Hikari would probably love to visit her. "I'm sure Sakura would be happy to see something other than my ugly mug." He laughed.

Hikari made a bit of an agitated look and lightly smacked Toji on his forearm. "Don't say that about yourself!"

"Why? It's true." He had to hide his laughter.

"Toji Suzuhara!" Hikari firmly placed her hands on her hips, sternly looking down at him. "You are actually quite handsome!" The Class Rep's expression quickly changed as she realized what she had just spouted out, causing her cheeks to go bright red. Even with the orange tint of the setting sun, Toji could still see her blush. "I'm sorry!" She held her hands up defensively as if to stop him from lashing out at her. "I didn't mean for it sound like tha-"

"Chill out, Hikari." Toji laughed. "It's cool. Really." Once her expression loosened up a bit, he continued. "Besides, you're kinda cute too."

Her blush intensified. "R..really? You really think so?"

"I don't know." He smirked. "Do you really think I'm handsome?"

She rolled her eyes, trying to hide her smile.

Toji felt as though the tension that had been weighing down on him for the latter part of the day had just been lifted off of his shoulders. Something about the way the girl seemed so genuinely happy for him and his sister just brightened up his day. Hikari had always been a caring and kind person, and even had a soothing aura about her. Never before though had he actually been in the midst of it.

"Say, Toji?" Hikari felt another flush in her cheeks. "Would you like to sit with me and lunch tomorrow? I can even bring food. I'm always making more food than my sister's can eat anyways."

The teenager frowned, and turned his head towards the window, gazing at the sunset. "Sorry, Hikari." He said. "But I won't be here tomorrow. I've got to go take care of some things first."

"Oh." She replied, a bit taken back. "When will you be back then?" She wanted to ask him where he was going, but she felt that she shouldn't pry.

"I'll be back on Monday." He answered, still keeping his eyes on the setting sun.

"Well, could we do that when you get back then?" Hikari asked, hoping to get a solid answer out of him.

"Yeah." He said, though his tone sounded a little bit detached. "We can do that when I get back. I promise."

About four hundred kilometers away from the two students, a transport VTOL hovered over the NERV Testing Facility in Matsushiro, carrying with it a large red cross with the jet black Evangelion Unit 03 bolted to it in a crucifixion-like pose with its hands bolted to the horizontal ends of the cross, while its ankles were bolted to the bottom end of it, leaving its upper body to lurch forward. As the aircraft began to make touchdown, the back of the cross latched onto a gantry, making a loud clang as the metal locks slid shut, locking the cross down as the VTOL detached from it.

Various technicians and maintenance workers carried out their duties once the EVA was in place. They scurried about like little worker ants, all of them carrying out incredibly important tasks as they prepared the Evangelion. In just a little over forty-eight hours the activation test for Unit 03 would begin, and everyone working around it could only hope that it would not be a reenactment of Unit 04's.


	10. 09

Alright guys, this has been a fairly anticipated chapter, judging by many of the reviews I've read. Hopefully this it will deliver.

Also, I would like to try to get the next chapter out by Sunday, but if it isn't out by then it probably won't be until around the 19th before my next update. I'm going to the beach with my girlfriend and a few friends next week, and I don't think I'll be able to get any writing done over there. But who knows? Maybe I'll find the time.

Anyways, just wanted to keep you guys posted on that so if I'm gone for two weeks, you're not wondering what's taking me so long.

Enjoy!

* * *

Misato leaned back in the seat of the transport vehicle heading for Matsushiro and took in a breath as she closed her eyes. Ritsuko sat across from her, gazing out of the window next to her. The Japanese countryside had remained surprisingly scenic even after Second Impact. The never ending Summer paired up with periodic showers had graced the nation with undying Summer beauty. Trees remained in full bloom, the grass was always green and healthy, and it had been longer than anyone could remember since the last time they had to put on a coat to keep warm.

"You haven't told Shinji who the Fourth Child is, have you?"

Misato opened her eyes, and directed her attention to the blonde sitting across from her. "No." She shook her head. "Asuka already knows, though." She frowned, recalling their conversation in her head.

"_Why the Hell is Suzuhara piloting Unit 03?!"_ She had confronted her at the apartment complex's parking lot, being sure that Shinji wouldn't over hear them.

"_Asuka, I don't know how you found out about that, but you have to understand…"_

"_Understand what?" _She put her hands on her hips, her eyes lit with fire. _"That you're putting an immature, idiotic, impulsive jock inside of an EVA Unit?!"_

Katsuragi narrowed her eyes, stiffening her posture. _"I understand you're proud of your piloting skills, but you need to get over yourself. Just because he's piloting Unit 03 doesn't mean that your prestigious view of yourself is in danger."_

The redhead groaned and smacked her palm against her forehead. _"Misato!"_ She exclaimed. _"Don't be so dense! It's not about me, it's about him!"_

Misato felt a tinge of anger at Asuka's comment, but remained silent to hear what she had to say before lashing out at her.

"_If you send someone like him into battle, he's just going to end up dead the second he makes contact with an Angel, and he'll probably get the rest of us killed along with him!"_

The lavender haired woman almost found herself at a loss of words. Asuka was actually thinking about the well being of someone else for a change. Then again, it was in a condescending way, so she couldn't be too surprised.

The Major blinked her eyes and found herself back in the present, only a few seconds had passed by since delving into her memories from the night before. "I guess you could say she wasn't very happy to hear about it."

"Can't say I'm surprised." Ritsuko kept her stare at the grassy fields in the distance. "Toji didn't even want to be the pilot. I had to bribe him by taking his sister into NERV's care to get him to sign on."

"That's good, at least." Misato stretched out her arms. "How's her condition?"

"Better than expected." She replied. "All things considered, Tokyo-3 Hospital did a pretty good job taking care of her. With our physicians at NERV, she should be able to walk without a crutch in four to six weeks, and should be fully healed in six months."

"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that when this is all done and over with."

Ritsuko nodded, but didn't reply. For a moment the two remained in silence, letting the sound of the transport's engine rumble through their ears. Dr. Akagi took in the scenery for a little longer before turning her attention back to the Major sitting opposite of her. It wasn't often for her to see Misato dressed in her formal NERV attire. Typically she'd simply wear her red jacket with a black skit and shirt. This time she had her jacket buttoned up and her red beret sitting firmly atop her head.

"So who's watching the children?" Ritsuko asked, growing tired of the silence.

"Oh, I'm having Kaji stay over and keep an eye on them."

XXXXXXXXXX

"I've gotta say, Kaji." Shinji put down the hose, little drips of water still pouring from its mouth. "I never did take you for the gardening type."

"Everyone needs a hobby." He shrugged, sprinkling one last batch of melons before cutting the pressure. "I appreciate you coming with me. I have to admit it does get a little bit lonely being out here all by myself sometimes."

The pilot of Unit 01 rolled his eyes. It wasn't by choice that he was out here, it was by deception. Kaji merely suggested they take a stroll and give Asuka some privacy, whom had admittedly seemed rather on edge as of late, or at least more than normal. Then from one smooth sway in conversation to another, Shinji found himself spending his Friday evening helping Kaji water his batch of melons in the GeoFront.

"It's not a problem." He replied as politely as he could. "Can we head back home now?"

"We need to make another stop first."

Shinji narrowed his eyes, looking over at Kaji. He wasn't about to be tricked into helping him run more errands. Kaji seemed to catch onto Ikari's concerns, and quickly loosened his expression to reassure him.

"Don't worry." He waved his hand off to the side. "I always like to go out for rice cakes afterwards."

Shinji kept his eyes fixed on him, waiting to hear specification if _they_ were going out for rice cakes, or if he was just going to be tagging along to watch Kaji eat them.

"It's my treat." He said with a genuine grin.

Shrugging, Shinji felt he had to reason to refuse. Once the two stepped into his car and buckled up, Kaji began driving down the fairly unused roads of the GeoFront. Most of NERV's employees took the cable cars that went directly to Central Dogma, which was much more convenient than driving through the vehicle lifts and then scouring for a parking spot at NERV HQ. The only two people that came to Shinji's mind that did that was Misato and Ritsuko, the latter of which would often leave periodically to check on her cats. The former just really liked to speed down the highway.

"I guess you know why Misato is in Matsushiro?" Kaji spoke, keeping one hand on the steering wheel, and the other rested on the console.

"Yeah." He nodded, his voice just a little more than a whisper. "She told me that all the rumors are true. That Unit 04 was destroyed, that we have a new pilot for Unit 03."

"Did she tell you who the pilot was?" His eyes glanced over at Shinji for a brief moment before turning back to the road.

He shook his head. "No. Do you know who it is?"

The long haired man remained quiet for a moment, thinking of a good way to respond. "Its not my place to tell you."

"Why not?"

Kaji sighed. Shinji wasn't the type of person to pry, but the boy seemed to have a knack for picking the worst times to make exceptions for that trait. He slowed his car down to a stop as they reached the lift elevator, still having not given Shinji an answer.

The light around them started to vanish as the lift pulled the car up through a dimly lit shaft. Every six meters or so, Shinji would squint his eyes at the orange lights bolted to the wall as the lift raised him past them, their dim, yet intense light momentarily blinding him each time he passed them by.

"The pilot should be the one to tell you himself." He finally answered.

Shinji blankly looked at the lights falling past his gaze, expecting to hear that sort of answer. He couldn't even fully grasp the idea of another child like him willingly becoming an EVA pilot. He himself became a pilot just to gain his father's praise, and now he continued solely for those he considered to be his friends. Asuka had known nothing outside of the life of being a pilot. And Rei… Her reason for piloting Unit 00, much like herself in general, was still a complete enigma.

"Kaji," Shinji spoke after a brief moment of stillness between the two. "can you at least tell me how they find pilots for EVA Units?"

Ryoji blinked, taken back by the strong curiosity of the otherwise quiet boy. "The Marduk institute, of course." He knew it was a lie, but it was the only answer Shinji needed to hear.

"I know that." He turned his gaze to the man sitting next to him. "But how? How do they pick out pilots? Is there like some sort of test they take, or something?"

Kaji had trouble feeding the boy lies. One day he'd learn the truth. Today was not that day, however. "You could say that, I guess. Though they're not exactly traditional tests." He wasn't necessarily lying, but he wasn't giving him anywhere near the full truth either.

"Why wasn't I tested then?"

Kaji forwned, not knowing how long he could continue to give him ambiguous answers before Ikari eventually caught on. "You were a special case. Commander Ikari had prior knowledge that you would be able to synch with Unit 01."

"How?"

"You're just full of questions today, aren't you?" Kaji tried to sound chipper to keep face.

"Sorry." Ikari turned back to the wall, watching the lights as they rose the last thirty or so meters to the surface. "Its just I feel like I've been kept in the dark a lot lately, and I want to know what's going on."

Kaji threw his gaze forward as the setting sun peaked through while the lift carried them up to the surface. "Trust me Shinji," He narrowed his eyes slightly, both to block out the intense light of the sun, and to also express his own frustration with seeking out the truth. "we all want to know what's going on."

XXXXXXXXXX

Asuka bit down on her lower lip while playing video games on the television, Pen Pen laying comfortably across her lap. She normally refrained from playing anything other than time burning games on her handheld. But whenever she felt like she was going to explode with anger, she would pull out the t.v. console and play violent video games to help vent her frustration. Today it was a fighting game. She couldn't recall the name of the game, but its goriness was nearly entrancing to her.

She still hadn't fully gotten over Toji becoming the new EVA pilot, and she figured she probably never would. He could be brash, much like her, but he lacked the ability to calculate and assess situations. This would make his self assertiveness a hindrance on the battlefield as opposed to an asset.

The creaking sound of the front door opening caught her attention for a moment, causing her character in the video game to take a hard hit in the face from the opponent, eviscerating it into a fountain of digital blood and gore.

"Shiesse." Asuka hissed before turning off the console as Kaji and Shinji made their way into the living room, each carrying a to-go box in hand.

"We're home." Kaji called.

The redhead turned around to see both her mentor and her roommate cutting through the living room and heading towards the kitchen. She managed to catch a glimpse of the logo printed on one of the Styrofoam boxes Shinji was carrying, identifying it as the same logo of one of the local mochi stores.

"Aw," She moaned, directing her whininess at Kaji. "you got rice cakes without me?"

He smirked, opening up the box he was carrying and handed her a green one. "Here ya go."

"Thanks, Kaji." She said in her sweetest tone, taking the treat in hand. Even though any romantic feelings she had for him were long gone, he still had a very soft spot in her heart.

"Don't thank me." He looked over towards the kitchen, spotting out Shinji laying the boxes down on the table. "Shinji's the one who suggested we get some for you." As soon as Kaji's words rang through his ears, Ikari quickly turned away from the two to hide his blush. He never did like being the center of attention.

"Oh." Her glimmering eyes started to dull, regaining her irritable façade. "Well it looks like Stupid Shinji might not be so stupid after all." She internally grimaced, expecting for Kaji to taunt her about Shinji's nickname, but when no taunt ever came, she continued. "I guess I'm training you well." There was a bit of a snarky hiss in her tone before she took a bite out of the rice cake.

"Training?" Ikari turned around to face her. "Like a dog?"

"What can I say?" Her voice was slightly muffled by the food in her mouth. "Boys are like dogs. You have to teach them how to behave, otherwise they just mess everything up"

"You make it sound like you're dating." Kaji's tone was neither accusatory nor playful. It came across more passively observant than anything.

"It's not like that!" He heard in stereo.

"Well I'll let you two work out your differences alone." He didn't come across the least bit fazed by their irate tones. "I think a nice hot bath would be absolutely fantastic right about now."

"The towels are in the closet by the front door." Shinji pointed, still feeling a bit embarrassed by his comment. "Everything else should be in the bathroom."

"Sounds wonderful." He stretched before heading down the hall, leaving him and Asuka to awkwardly try to find something else to look at other than each other. Shinji quickly turned around to face the kitchen table, while the redhead slowly turned towards the blank television screen, finishing up her rice cake.

The next hour or so remained in perpetual silence between the two pilots. Asuka turned her focus to the television, flipping through various television shows, not finding anything particularly interesting, while Shinji pulled open his laptop and went to his studies. Although he found it rather hard to focus on them, as curiosity had overwhelmed his mind in regards to the mysterious pilot of Unit 03.

"Kaji sure does take a long time to take a bath." Asuka murmured, breaking the silence. Ikari raised his eyes to her, though he had nothing to add. Once she felt his gaze upon her, the redhead turned to face him. "You know about Unit 03, right?"

"Yeah." Shinji nodded, dropping his eyes to the floor. "Misato told me they'd be doing the activation test for tomorrow. She wouldn't tell me who the pilot was though."

"What?!" Asuka's upper body shot up from her prone position and she looked at Shinji with wide sapphire eyes. "You mean she didn't tell you?!"

"No." He shook his head. "Who is it?"

The pilot of Unit 02 opened her mouth to utter the pilot's name. As soon as she was about to let it escape her though, she just found herself unable to speak the boy's name. She wanted to tell him. She felt he deserved to know that his best friend would be piloting Unit 03, and it wasn't fair for him to be kept in the dark like this. However she couldn't help but think about what might follow if she told him. Shinji knew better than anyone what the downsides were to piloting an Evangelion Unit.

She could only imagine how upset he'd be to hear that his best friend would be put into the same dangerous circumstances that they had all gone through and would continue to go through until the final Angel was destroyed. He was already worried enough without that weight on his shoulders. He didn't need another one. Not yet.

Just as she was about to dismiss her outburst, she suddenly saw a face flash by her mind's eye. One of a brunette with pigtails and little freckles on her cheeks. Her own best friend, Hikari. She couldn't help but think about how she'd feel if Hikari was put in Toji's position. Asuka would want to know if _her_ best friend would be piloting an EVA Unit. Though she'd be angered to hear it, she'd want to know at the very least. That alone was reason enough to not keep this a secret from Shinji any longer.

"Toji is the pilot of Unit 03."

"What?" It took a moment for her words to sink in. At first he gave her a look of confusion, looking like he had just heard a joke with only half of the punch line.

"Toji is the pilot of Unit 03." She reiterated much slower and an added weight of seriousness in her tone.

The realization was starting to take effect on his expression. His eyes grew wider by the second and his hands began to tremble over his keyboard. "W..what do you mean Toji i..is the pilot of Unit 03?"

"I mean exactly what I just said, you idiot!" She rolled herself over so that she was now sitting on the carpeted floor, her expression beginning to grow stern. "Toji, your friend, is the pilot of Unit 03. He's the Fourth Child!"

Suddenly there was the sound of splashing water from the bathroom, causing both of them to direct their attention at the door as the sound of wet footsteps quickly smacked against the tiled floor. There were a few other rummaging sounds before the door quickly shot open, revealing Kaji, still dripping wet with a long towel firmly wrapped around his waist, covering up his lower body completely, save for his bare feet.

"Asuka!" He shot his eyes at the redhead, who was returning the same glare. "Why did you tell him that?!" It wasn't often for Ryoji to seem genuinely upset with her, but it was even less often for Asuka seem upset with him.

"Sorry, Kaji," She stood up from the floor, and kept her eyes fixed on him, not seeing that Shinji's entire body was beginning to tremble. "but he deserves to know if his best friend is going to be in Unit 03's activation test!"

"Even so, it's not your place to tell him!"

"I don't care!" She hissed. "It's not fair to keep things like this a secret from us!"

Kaji felt an internal twitch at Asuka's words. The two pilots had no idea how many secrets NERV had been keeping from them, and if Toji piloting Unit 03 warranted this type of response, he couldn't imagine how they'd react if they heard all of the dark little secrets that NERV had kept safely hidden away from them in the past few months.

"Asuka, sometimes NERV keeps this type of things a secret from you for your own benefit." He had to bite his tongue on the words, but he had to maintain his appearance as a simple NERV employee, even if it meant having to contradict his personal feelings on the matter.

"The benefit of ignorance, maybe." She firmly placed her hands on her hips. "Sorry, but I'm not going to just sit here and…"

"Asu…ka?" Shinji stuttered, catching her attention. As soon as she laid her eyes on him, she could see that his trembling had grown immensely since she last looked at him. Both of his arms were shaking, as were his legs. "Please tell me that… that you're just joking? Please?" His voice was as shaky as his body.

"She's not joking, Shinji." Kaji sighed, rubbing his temples with his thumb and middle finger. "Toji Suzuhara is indeed going to be the pilot of Unit 03."

Ikari felt a surge of pain shoot through his torso, causing him to clench his chest. He was breathing heavily, and to both Asuka and Kaji it was obvious he was beginning to have a panic attack. Memories of all the trauma he had faced up to that point started to rush through his mind. The feeling of the Third Angel bashing Unit 01's head in with an energy spear, sending waves of pain into his right eye. The searing pain of the Fifth Angel's particle beam blasting into the mech's chest with a force so powerful he thought his sternum would collapse in on itself. Even the blanket of dread that shrouded him while trapped inside of the Dirac Sea. All of these events were things that he whished upon no one. Nobody deserved to know what it was like to feel the pain of traumas that should have otherwise killed them. He knew what it was like to feel a blade pierce through his skull. He knew what it was like to feel his heart and lungs explode from sheer pressure. Though none of those things had ever physically happened to him, he had still felt them through the EVA.

"Shinji," Asuka walked up to the boy and took hold of his chin, pulling his head up so his eyes could meet her face. "relax. Everything is going to be just fine." In truth, she didn't know if everything would be okay. However telling him that certainly wouldn't help ease him. "Just take in a deep breath." The redhead sucked in a big gulp of air through her nostrils, demonstrating what to do. After watching her do it, Shinji tried to slow down his breathing, giving his tired lungs a rest as he pulled in a deep breath of air. "Now breath out." Asuka exhaled slowly through her mouth, blowing some air onto Shinji's face. He couldn't help but notice her breath smelled like mint. The smell reminded him of what her lips tasted like when they kissed. Suddenly he found that he wasn't shaking anymore as he exhaled just as Asuka did. After taking a moment to recompose himself, Shinji started to feel his heart rate returning to normal.

"I'm good now." He exhaled, sounding exhausted.

"Good." The redhead abruptly pulled her hand out from under his chin, letting his head fall as she turned around and made her way away from him. "I'm getting tired of playing nurse every time something like this happens."

"Sor-" He stopped himself, warranting a half glance from her. "Thanks, Asuka."

She huffed and then began making her way towards her room, not giving so much as a glance in Kaji's direction. Once the door shut, the long haired man looked over at Ikari and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Shinji. I just couldn't tel-"

"With all due respect, Mr. Kaji," The pilot raised his eyes to the man, anger seeping through his exhaustion. "I'd like to just be left alone." He pulled himself up from his chair, shut his laptop, and strode down the hall, entering his room to retire for the night.

Ryoji shook his head once more, looking down at his feet. Between Unit 03's activation test, Commander Ikari growing wise to his tricks, and the old men of the SEELE Committee starting to show signs of aggravation with his lack of useful Intel, he just couldn't find a good time to tell the two pilots all of the information that they needed to know.. The fact remained though, that for their own sake they had to be filled in on what NERV, or at least Commander Ikari's true intentions were. However it was too soon for that. The Angels had to be destroyed first. As they were a mutual enemy to SEELE, Ikari, and the human race as a whole. They needed to be removed first, and then the children could be told the truth.

However he was starting to wonder if he'd even live long enough to tell them.

XXXXXXXXXX

The blocky frame of Gendo Ikari stood motionless in his office, standing in front of the great window that overlooked the GeoFront's artificial lake. Nightfall had come, and the lighting of the GeoFront had changed to match that of the outside world, simulating the darkness with little white specs shimmering above, to give the feeling of looking up at the stars.

His mind was too preoccupied to even attempt sleeping, not after the scene he had witnessed earlier in the day when the Fourth Child arrived at NERV HQ to be transported to Matsushiro. Upon arriving, he was accompanied by a rather small and frail looking girl, who could be no more than nine years old, strapped down to a stretcher. From the dossier he gathered that she was Sakura Suzuhara, the younger sister of the pilot.

Before she was sent to NERV's medical wing in Central Dogma, she was seen off by the Fourth Child. From afar, watching from the shadows with Sub Commander Fuyutsuki, Ikari could see in the boy's eyes that he had no desire to pilot Unit 03, yet he did so anyways just for the sake of his sister.

In a strange way, it reminded him of when his own son piloted Unit 01 for the first time. He had no drive to use the giant mechanized monstrosity, yet he did so anyways for the sake of Rei, who like Sakura, had been hospitalized due to severe injuries. Though the overall circumstances were much different, he couldn't help but draw parallels between the two events.

Thinking back on the moment when Shinji decided to stand up and fight the Third Angel that had since been dubbed Sachiel, brought a strange feeling upon Commander Ikari that he had not felt in quite some time. He felt a sense of pride in his son.

Though he had grown to dislike Shinji over the course of time, he could never dare say that he hated him. To hate his own son would be to hate both himself and Yui, as Shinji was both the best and worst aspects of them. While Gendo did find it possible to hate himself, he could never feel anything but love for Yui. That alone was enough reason to not hate Shinji. Perhaps he could never love his son, but he would never wish ill upon him.

Even if he did blame Shinji for what happened to Yui, he knew deep down that it was not his fault. The choice Yui made was her own and nobody else's. Though Shinji's mere existence may have influenced her to give her own life for the betterment of the world, in the end she was the one who made the choice. Even though Gendo knew this, he had to find someone to blame for her death for the sake of his own sanity, and Shinji was the perfect scapegoat.

Shinji had always been Gendo's default for placing blame. Even when it wasn't his fault, he was the one who was always crucified for events that he had no way of preventing. Did this make Gendo a terrible person? He thought so, but what he thought of himself or anyone else for that matter would all be moot once the Human Instrumentality Project was commenced. By then he would be with Yui forever, and not even God himself would be able to separate them.

XXXXXXXXXX

The teacher's long winded lecture had gone completely unheard by Shinji as he kept his gaze focused on Toji's empty seat. Today was the day of Unit 03's activation test, and not a single soul in the class other than Shinji and Asuka knew that Suzuhara was the one partaking in it. Ikari had also figured Rei knew as well, but she was notably absent yet again.

The pilot of Unit 01 felt something slip in under his arm, causing his attention to be drawn to his desk, where caught a glimpse of Asuka pulling her arm back to her desk after quickly dropping a small piece of folded up paper onto his.

It actually wasn't too uncommon for her to pass him notes during class while the teacher's back was turned. Although they were hardly anything as scandalous as all their classmates thought they were. Typically, Asuka's notes were nothing more than simple questions about clarification on a kanji symbol, or sometimes just one of her occasional uncalled for jabs at his intelligence. This letter looked to be the latter.

"_Quit looking over at Toji's desk, you idiot. He'll be fine."_

Ikari almost mouthed a 'sorry' after reading the note, but stopped himself, this time warranting a little more than a half glance from her. Instead it was s very, very, very faint grin from the redhead before she turned her eyes back to the teacher. Shinji felt like a little bit of the weight that had been pressing down on his shoulders since last night had been removed the second she graced him with the softened expression. It could've barely passed as a smile, but it was close enough for him.

He made a soft sigh as he took in her features. Her golden red hair flowed elegantly behind her, while her trademark A10 Connectors sat atop her head like little red cat ears. Her ice blue eyes shone under the lights of the classroom, and her pretty features seemed to be even more prominent with her softened expression.

"Mr. Ikari." The elderly teacher called, causing Shinji's head to jolt to towards the front of the classroom. It was at this point that he realized he had been staring at Asuka for a considerable amount of time. "Should I move you to another seat where you will be less easily distracted?"

The entire class tried to stifle their laughter and giggles while Shinji began to blush furiously. Asuka merely rolled her eyes, well aware that the boy had been staring at her for nearly half a minute before finally being called out by the teacher. About two months ago, she would have made a huge outburst about it by calling Shinji a pervert and rant about how disgusted she was with him. Now though, she couldn't help but simply try to hide her smile.

What could she say? She was flattered.

XXXXXXXXXX

Matsushiro was normally a very quiet place. Aside from the testing facility, there really wasn't much there aside from Mount Asama, which being an active volcano, had scared off most of its residents years ago. Today though, Matsushiro was anything but quiet. The sound of VTOLs reverberated through Misato's ears over the creaking sound of gantries turning and moving all around the jet black Unit 03.

The pilot had already boarded the Entry Plug, and was being lifted to the loading hatch in the base of the EVAs neck by a crane while technicians attached the umbilical cable to the back of Unit 03. They would not be using the S2 engine for this activation test, as to avoid an incident like the one in Nevada. Major Katsuragi was able to take a little bit of solace in this, but even then, the fear remained.

"Toji," Misato spoke into the microphone, trying to ease both his and her worries. "how are you feeling?"

There wasn't an immediate response, but one did eventually come. "Not gonna lie, Major Katsuragi. I'm feelin' a little nervous."

"Well don't be." She smiled, even though he couldn't see it, she hoped that her tone could carry it through to him. "You're going to do just fine. Oh, and please, call me Misato. Just because your with NERV now doesn't mean you can't spare the formalities with me."

She heard a breath coming from the speaker, she could hear the smile on his face. "Thanks, Misato." He replied. "I'll do my best."

"I know you will." She nodded. "I'll see you in a few minutes, okay? After this we'll head back to Tokyo-3 and I'll treat you out to a nice sushi bar Asuka, Rei, and Shinji showed me. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great." His tone now seemed much calmer and relaxed. "See ya in a bit, Misato." With that, the connection between the two was cut as the crane reached the loading hatch, snapping the Entry Plug in place, and then sliding it into the EVA.

Behind her, Misato could feel Ritsuko's presence striding across the room, approaching a computer terminal next to a window. Dr. Akagi looked up from the terminal and gazed at the nearly demonic profile of Unit 03's face. While Evangelions had always sported intimidating visages, Unit 03's just seemed a bit more ominous. Nobody in the observation room could quite figure out what it was that made Unit 03 appear so much scarier, perhaps it was its solid black color scheme, or perhaps it was the stigma that it carried from Unit 04. Either way, it made Ritsuko nervous just by looking at it for too long.

"Is the pilot ready?" Dr. Akagi looked over at one of the techs sitting next to her.

"The pilot is ready." He answered.

"Alright." The blonde nodded, looking back at her terminal before doing one more check of Unit 03's system, ensuring that everything was ready for the activation test. "Begin activation."

The technicians started to carry out their various tasks, monitoring the EVA Unit as it came online. Its yellow eyes lit up and the sound of various machines in the observation room began to beep and chirp as they took in the readings from the Evangelion's performance.

"Synch level is rising." The technician sitting next to Ritsuko announced. "The pilot is approaching the borderline threshold."

Misato walked up next to Ritsuko and peered over her shoulder, watching as the synchrograph began to align and the red bars indicating the pilot's synch ratio started to light up. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight bars lit up, one after the other, growing closer and closer to the borderline threshold, the synch ratio required to activate the Evangelion Unit.

Then it passed the threshold.

Within seconds of Unit 03 fully coming to life, every single alarm in the Matsushiro testing facility began to roar. Misato started frantically looking around the observation room, trying to identify the problem, but when she looked back at Dr. Akagi's terminal, it all became clear to her.

The synchrograph began to drastically shift out of alignment, yet Toji's synch ratio continued to rise. Ritsuko had seen this happen before. This was exactly what happened when Unit 00 went berserk with Rei and Shinji. As she looked up out the window, she could see that was indeed what was happening.

Unit 03 made one firm motion with both of its arms, pulling them out of their bolted restraints. Within seconds its umbilical cord was detached, which in theory should've deactivated it. Instead it merely continued on its rampage, unaffected by its lack of external power.

"It's not shutting down!" Misato screamed, as the giant robot pulled one of its legs free.

"Its using the S2 engine!" Akagi shouted over the loud banging of Unit 03's rampage, feeling her feet tremble as a shockwave was sent through the building. "It will continue to operate without external power indefinitely!"

Before Katsuragi could respond, a loud bellowing roar shook through the facility, causing everyone in the observation room to cover their ears as the reverberating noise rumbled through their eardrums, bringing them all to their knees. Misato felt like her head was about to implode from the sheer volume the creature was creating. After a few seconds of being bombarded with the raging noise, she managed to pull her head up and take one last look at the berserk Unit 03, seeing its mouth restraints shatter into tiny little shards of metal, freeing its jaw and exposing its blocky red teeth. After that, everything went dark.

XXXXXXXXXX

NERV Headquarters had gone from idle to full alert within the blink of an eye. It took no time for them to receive word of Unit 03's ballistic state, as well as the complete destruction of the testing facility in Matsushiro. There was no word on the casualties, but they did have a positive I.D. on the rogue Evangelion.

"It's code orange." Hyuga spoke, looking up at the giant screen being projected in front of the Command Center's front deck, showing the black EVA Unit slowly trudging its way through the hilly countryside, making its way towards Tokyo-3. "We can't tell if its an Angel or not."

Up at the top in the command deck, Gendo remained seated, intently looking forward at the screen. Behind him Fuyutsuki stood, but instead of having his hands clasped behind his back, he was leaning forward on the barrier of the command deck, looking down at all the technicians below him.

"Is the pilot still inside?" Commander Ikari inquired, keeping his stony features.

"Roger." Aoba answered. "The pilot is also still alive. We are picking up a faint heartbeat and fairly regular breathing. He hasn't seemed to have sustained any injuries at this time." He paused, and gulped. "Of course, its also very likely that the Fourth Child has been…"

"Contaminated." Ikari finished. "I know. Regardless, eject the Entry Plug."

"Roger." Maya replied, punching in the force ejection code. About thirty kilometers away, the Entry Plug containing Toji shot out of the loading hatch, but was quickly halted by a gooey, grayish substance that locked the Entry Plug in place with its sticky tendrils.

"It won't eject!" Hyuga exclaimed. "There seems to be a core-like substance encasing the Entry Plug, keeping it locked in place!"

"Unfortunate." Gendo didn't seem too fazed by this. "EVA Unit 03 is to be declared the thirteenth Angel. Our top priority is to destroy it at all costs." Everyone else in the Command Center looked up at Ikari, looks of shock spread across all their faces.

"But what about the pilot?" One of the technicians asked, though Commander Ikari couldn't pick out which one it was. It was very likely one of the lower ranking ones.

"The pilot is to be considered K.I.A.. Now contact the pilots of Unit's 00, 01, and 02, and have them on them prepped for launch as soon as possible. I'll be taking command of this operation." Though there were no verbal objections, Gendo could feel the disgruntlement radiating from all of the technicians. He could also feel it radiating from his Sub Commander.

"Gendo," It wasn't often for Fuyutsuki to call him by his first name. "the pilot could still be rescued. We should at least consider the possibility that we can save hi-"

"A rescue operation would prove to be too risky. Our priority is to prevent the Angel from breaching Terminal Dogma at all costs, even if it means killing the Fourth Child. Should the pilots be able to subdue the Angel without harming him, then so be it. However the safety of Toji Suzuhara is to be of minimal concern."

"But…"

Gendo cut him off. "Let me ask you something, Sub Commander. Would you risk the lives every human being in the entire world for the sake of one boy?"

Fuyutsuki didn't have an response to give. Instead he merely lowered his head and nodded. "Very well." He said. "I'll be sure that the Evangelions are prepped for launch by the time the pilots arrive.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun was starting to set by the time Unit 01, 02, and 03 were in position. Due to the urgent nature of the situation, the three pilots received just the basic information about the Angel. It first appeared near the Matsushiro testing facility around the time of the activation test, and it was heading towards Tokyo-3 at a steady pace. All the questions and concerns Shinji had for Toji's wellbeing went completely unanswered, as Misato, the only person in all of NERV he could ever get a straight answer from, was currently in Matsushiro, and hopefully still alive.

The purple Evangelion stood alone atop a hill on the outskirts of Tokyo-3, catching sight of Unit 02 in the distance, while Unit 00 remained completely unseen. They had been ordered to hold their position here, and to form a chokepoint for the Angel to walk right into. From there, subduing it with a three on one advantage wouldn't be a problem.

"Asuka, any sign of the Angel yet?" He asked, tightening his grip on the controls.

"Not yet." She answered.

Rei's ghostly voice broke in. "I've found it." She spoke. "Look towards the sun."

Both pilots turned their EVAs towards the setting sun, where they could see a humanoid silhouette contrasted against the bright orange light of the sun. Its upper body was slouched forward, letting its arms to dangle around its knees, and its steps were barely more than slow trudges. Once the two pilots took a good look at the approaching figure, Shinji's heart dropped.

"T..t..that's an EVA Unit!" He stuttered. "That means that… Oh God."

"Shinji!" Asuka barked. "Snap out of it! The last thing we need is for you to start freaking out right now!" The redhead looked back at the approaching figure, slowly making its way towards them like a traveling colossus that would not even let mountains stand in its way. "Is the pilot still inside?" She asked, trying to assess the situation.

"That isn't relevant." Commander Ikari answered.

"What the Hell do you mean it isn't relevan-"

"You are not to concern yourselves with the Fourth Child." His voice grew a little more stern, causing for even Asuka of all people to falter a bit. "Unit 03 has been contaminated by the Thirteenth Angel, and as such needs to be destroyed at all costs. Is that understood."

The redhead sighed, looking down at her controls. "Yes sir." She brought her gaze back up at the setting sun, watching the daunting figure continue its approach. "Wondergirl, do you have a visual of the Entry Plug?"

"Roger." She replied, looking through the scope of her sniper rifle, zooming in at the base of its neck to see the plug partially sticking out while the rest of it was held inside by a sticky substance that ensnared it like a spider web. For the moment, her position remained behind the Angel, out of sight and out of its way as she took careful aim.

"Good." Asuka replied. "Blow its legs off."

"What?!" Shinji interjected, his tone betraying his emotions. "You'll hurt Toji!"

Asuka glared at Ikari though the video monitor, her ice blue eyes burning red. "Of course he'll get hurt!" She hissed. "But being hurt is a hell of a lot better than being dead!"

"But…"

"Shinji," Unit 02 began to approach Unit 01, which continued to stare unbelievingly at the Angel in the distance. "I know this sucks, but if we sit here and do nothing then we're all gonna die!" She made no effort to hide her frustration with the Third Child.

"But Toji…"

"Take the shot, First Child!"

"Roger."

Unit 00 tightened its finger around the trigger, flinging the firing pin forward, impacting square into the primer of the bullet. With a deafening bang, followed by a head shatteringly loud crack, a six hundred and twenty millimeter bullet roared through the air. The large slug pierced through the back of Unit 03's knee, sending a gush of blood red LCL shooting out from where its kneecap used to be as it bellowed in pain, falling down onto its weakened leg.

"No!" Shinji cried, unable to watch his friend be put through the pain Rei was inflicting onto him.

"Again!" Asuka commanded.

"Reload." Rei spoke as Unit 00 pulled the bolt back, putting another bullet into the chamber. "Center the target." Looking down her scope, she zoomed in on the back of its other knee, her finger slowly starting to squeeze the trigger. "Fir-"

Before she could pull the trigger, Unit 03 pushed its hands towards the ground, projecting an AT Field as it did so. With the force of the AT Field, it shot itself up about two hundred meters into the air and avoided the incoming bullet.

The blue haired pilot managed to let out a gasp before the jet black Angel came crashing down onto her. It buried its good knee into the back of Unit 00, sending it crumbling down into a prone position while Unit 03's hands firmly grasped both of its arms. At first she could only feel a sharp pain in her back, and made a few vain attempts to struggle out of the Angel's grasp.

Then the real pain came.

Unit 03 tightened its grip around Unit 00's arms, sending little tendrils of contamination through the EVA's body, crawling under its skin. Rei screamed and squirmed in an effort to writhe out of the Angel's grasp, but the blinding pain kept her from being able to even attempt to fight back. Over the speakers, she could hear the technicians in the Command Center spouting out something about contamination, but she was in too much agony to make out any more than the gist what they were saying.

"Sheisse." Asuka hissed as Unit 02 sprinted forward, charging towards the Angel and her downed partner. "Come on, Shinji! Get your ass in gear!"

Unit 01 remained motionless as Shinji found himself unable to do anything, as though he were completely frozen. He had had nightmares like this before, being able to consciously tell his body what to do, but his body itself being unable to respond. It was like being paralyzed.

"T..t..this c..can't be happening…" He felt a lone tear cascade down his cheek, quickly being absorbed into the LCL.

"Ugh!" Asuka growled. "Your worthless!" Unit 02 continued its sprint towards Rei and the Angel, preemptively withdrawing her progressive knife from her right shoulder pylon. "Sorry, Suzuhara." She snarled. "No hard feelings."

Unit 03 looked up to see its approaching opponent, its arms still locked around Unit 00. Knowing that it didn't have much time until Asuka came within range, the Angel made one firm jerking motion, pulling both of Unit 00's arms off with ease, making a loud crack and snap as it did so. Followed by this was a bloodcurdling scream from its pilot. Her wail sent shivers down the spines of everyone in the Command Center, even Commander Ikari felt his lip twitch at the god awful noise. Inside of Unit 01, Shinji could feel his heart drop even further as her cries of pain echoed through his ears.

Still holding onto both severed arms, Unit 03 withdrew its tendrils from inside of the limbs, causing them to shrivel up and start to darken in pigment. As the arms began to rot in its grasp, the hole in its leg began to heal itself, rapidly regrowing bone and tissue, making it as though it had never been shot in the first place.

By the time Asuka reached the Angel, it was already back on its feet. In her charge, she lunged the knife forward, aiming for where Unit 03's core would be. The jet black creature shifted to the side, avoiding the attack, but not avoiding the second slash from Unit 02, cutting into its narrow abdomen. LCL started to drip from the wound, the dark red contrasting strongly with its black armor.

"Die, you bastard!" She made a downward swing, only for the Angel to leap back and skid its feet against the grassy ground, shooting a cloud of dirt up into the air. Asuka tried to follow up with her relentless offense by charging Unit 03, knowing what could happen if she gave it a second to breath.

Seeing her lunge forward, the Angel crouched down, letting the knife go over its head. Now that she was completely open, Unit 03 placed its left hand around the base of Unit 02's extended forearm, holding it in place while its right hand shot upward into the red Evangelion's wrist, causing for Unit 02's radius and ulna to snap like twigs, splintering out of its arm.

Asuka reared her head back and screamed in agonizing pain, dropping her prog knife. She tried to pull her wounded arm back, but found herself unable to as Unit 03 still had its grip firmly around her arm. The Angel slowly stood up from its crouching position, its yellow eyes glaring into hers. Asuka tried to escape its grasp, knowing that it wasn't finished with her yet, but it was useless.

"Shinji, for Christ sake, help me!" She was too afraid of what the Angel would do to her to let her pride hinder her from begging for his assistance.

Ikari felt his body tremble as she called for him. He wanted to move. He wanted to save her. He wanted to rush forward and subdue Unit 03, but he just couldn't. If he did then he would hurt Toji. Yet if he did nothing then the Angel would hurt Asuka just as it had hurt Rei.

"I…I can't." He whimpered.

"Shinji, you bastard!" She hissed as Unit 03 delivered a crippling blow to Unit 02's abdomen, fracturing its ribs. The red EVA collapsed to its knees and Unit 03 mercifully let go of its broken arm. Fortunately it seemed to be done with her, just finishing Asuka off by kicking Unit 02 in the face, knocking it square on its back before moving on.

"Shinji," Commander Ikari's voice came in through the speakers. "You are the last line of defense between the Angel and the GeoFront. You must stop it here."

"But I can't!" He cried. "Toji's inside!"

"I've already told you that is irrelevant." Gendo growled. "Now kill the Angel and be done with this."

"No!" He shook his head. "I can't do it! I won't do it! I won't kill Toj-" Before he could finish, he saw Unit 03 shoot itself into the air the same way as it did with Rei, using its AT Field to reach an incredible altitude before coming crashing down onto the purple mech, slamming its back into the grassy hill, crushing a small house as it landed.

Unit 03 grasped both of its hands around Unit 01's neck, digging its thumbs into its windpipe. Shinji could feel his own throat start to close up from the pressure as it tightened its grip. At this rate it would be no time before Unit 01's neck would snap, and after that the EVA would be completely worthless.

"Fight back." Gendo commanded. "If you don't, you will die."

"I can't do it!" He shook his head, having to fight to breath. "I won't kill…" Shinji trailed off as he looked into the eyes of the beast that was throttling him. Its yellow eyes beamed into his as it watched with what Ikari could only imagine was pleasure. This creature wasn't Toji. This creature was not his friend. It was a monster.

"Shinji!" Commander Ikari barked. "Fight back!"

Shinji let the words of his father sink in. Even though he had grown a distaste for him after their meeting at his mother's grave when he told him to sever all emotional ties with Asuka, he couldn't help but admit that Gendo was right. He _had_ to fight. If he didn't fight, then not only would he die, but Toji would die as well. Then what good would that do? If he fought though, then there was a chance, even if only a small one, that Toji might survive.

It was better than doing nothing.

"I'm sorry Toji." Shinji had to stifle back a tear as he took hold of the Angel's wrists, pulling them away from his neck. At first its grip remained tight, but Unit 01 proved to be the stronger of the two. With one hard push, he managed to knock the EVA back, giving him enough time to get back onto his feet.

Once Unit 01 was standing again, he rushed forward and delivered a hard punch to the gut, causing Unit 03 to lurch forward, revealing the back of its neck. Ikari looked down to see that Toji's Entry Plug was still inside it, but enough of it was exposed for him to pull it out.

He quickly reached for the cylindrical pod, but was just as quickly buffed back when Unit 03 shoved him away with its right arm. The purple mech stumbled a bit, but regained its balance by the time its opponent began to charge.

Shinji quickly deployed an AT Field to stop Unit 03 in its tracks. Though it would only hinder the Angel momentarily, it did give Shinji enough time to assess the situation. He had to find a way to subdue the Angel without delivering fatal damage so he could retrieve the Entry Plug, but the question was how would he do that?

Before he could come up with a good plan, Unit 03 ripped through his AT Field and continued its charge with a roar. Knowing that he had to keep moving, Shinji leapt upwards, letting the Angel rush right past him. Once the EVA landed, the ground around him began to tremble, and he found himself standing directly behind Unit 03.

Now was his chance.

In one quick motion, Unit 01 dashed forward and dug its knee into the center of the Angel's back, knocking it flat on its face while he pressed it down with all of his weight. The black Evangelion squirmed and writhed, trying to shake him off, but Shinji stood firmly. Toji's Entry Plug was completely within his reach, but if he were to grab it while it was shaking so much, he could risk severely hurting him.

"Stop moving!" He growled, delivering a hard elbow to the back of Unit 03's head, causing it to tense up in pain. Followed by this, Unit 01 took hold of the armor plating around the Entry Plug hatch and began to rip it off, exposing Unit 03's gray skin. Shinji reached for the Entry Plug, but just as he took hold of it, the EVA made another attempt to fight him off.

Frustrated, Ikari bashed his elbow against the back of the Angel's head again, and again, and again. Each blow caused it to bellow out in pain, and though he knew he was also hurting Toji, he knew the damage wouldn't leave him with any severe injuries. After the final hit, the Evangelion ceased its resistance.

Seeing his chance, Unit 01 reached into the completely exposed hatch and grasped onto the Entry Plug, pulling as hard as it could. The sticky substance was proving to be stronger than he expected, but he could feel it giving way one tendril at a time.

"Don't worry, Toji!" Shinji said through gritted teeth. "I'll get you out of there! I promise!" With another hard pull, The Entry Plug came loose as the tendrils holding it in place snapped one by one. Just as he was about to pull it out of the hatch, one final blue tendril shot out and grasped onto the Entry Plug, as if to make one final effort to hold Toji hostage. It was not enough though, as Unit 01 ripped the Entry Plug free of its grasp, severing all connections it had with Unit 03.

"He's done it!" Maya exclaimed, feeling her heart race with joy as she stood up from her seat. "He's saved the pilot!

"Life signs are normal!" Aoba added. "There are no signs of contamination either!"

On the battlefield, Shinji cradled the Entry Plug like a running back would a football before unleashing all of his fury onto the Angel with his free hand. Now that the connection between Toji and the Angel had been completely severed, he held nothing back. With his right hand, he smashed his fist into the back of Unit 03's head repeatedly as hard as he could, blood red LCL oozed from its wounds with each hit as the armor around its head fractured and flew off, completely exposing its round gray head.

"Just die!" He roared with one last smash of his fist, causing for the back of its exposed cranium to explode into a pool of gore. The Angel made one last involuntary twitch as his fist came crashing down onto it, but then went completely limp underneath him.

It was finally dead.

"Good work, Ikari!" Fuyutuski couldn't hide his smile. "The Fourth Child is safe, and the Angel has been destroyed!"

The brown haired pilot began to realize that his breathing had become labored and intense. He looked down at the Entry Plug he had tucked away in his arm, seeing that it was completely intact. Slowly, Unit 01 rose from atop the destroyed Angel, uncradling its arm and slightly loosening its grasp on the Entry Plug Toji was safely tucked away in.

"What about Asuka and Rei?"

"They're fine." Hyuga answered. "No signs of infection, and no severe physical injuries to either of the pilots."

Ikari didn't reply, noticing that Hyuga had to specify there were no _physical_ injuries. He heard Rei's scream, and he could hear the fright in Asuka's voice. He knew that even if their bodies weren't injured, their minds most certainly were.

"Just sit tight." Maya said, feeling her heart finally starting to slow down. "We'll have a retrieval team come pick you up within the hour."

Once the connection to the Command Center ended, Shinji found himself in complete silence. He looked down at the Entry Plug in his hand, feeling a wave of relief hit him as the realization that he had saved his best friend started to settle in.

"Open communication with Unit 03's pilot." He said, prompting for a static filled screen to come into view. Even though he couldn't see Toji, and he was fairly certain that his friend wouldn't be able to hear him either, he still had to talk to him. Even if it meant that he wouldn't hear it. "Toji…" He started. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I just wanted to tell you that I'm so, so, so sorry you had to go through this. But God am I so glad that you're okay. I mean, hell, what would Sakura do without you?" He couldn't help but crack a smile as he felt a tear form in his left eye. "You're my best friend, Toji. I really want you to know that. If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have ever come back when I ran away all those months ago. You just have no idea how great its been to have a person like you who I can always count on whenever it looks like I have nobody to turn to." The tears started to stream freely, being absorbed into the LCL one by one. "Thank you so much, Toji. I don't think I ever told you how great of a friend you've been to me, and I really want you to know that. I've always taken everything I have for granted. You, Kensuke Asuka, Rei, Misato. Every single one of them I just accepted but never truly realized how important they actually are to me. Thank you so much for making me realize that, Toji." He closed his eyes and let a smile form across his face. "Thank you so much."

Shinji felt as if a thousand pounds had been lifted from his shoulders. All this time he had done hardly anything more than acknowledge all the great things he had. Sure he and his father didn't get along, and perhaps he hadn't lived the best life, but that didn't mean he had nothing to be thankful for. All of his friends had stood by him, and he merely took them for granted. That was going to change. Never again would he not be thankful for all the wonderful things he'd been graced with.

Suddenly, there was a lightness in his left hand.

Shinji's eyes shot open as he caught a glance of what was happening. A blue, fungus like substance grasped onto Toji's Entry Plug, and then ripped it right out of Unit 01's hand before he could even react. His wide hazel eyes traced the blue substance as he watched it pull the Entry Plug away from him, seeing that it was originating from the mouth of the severely disfigured Angel.

Like a frog's tongue, it pulled Toji's Entry Plug into its wide maw, Shinji was so shocked and terrified that he couldn't properly react. The Angel's wide yellow eyes stared directly into him as it took the entire metal cylinder into its mouth, and then clasped its jaws around it. By the time Shinji could fully comprehend what was happening, he could see a large bulge in its throat move down into its stomach.

What followed was something that Shinji could only imagine would happen in a nightmare. The disfigured and bloody Angel began to morph its exposed face into one that Shinji had seen before. As a matter of fact, it was the face of the very person he had just saved, the very same person whom he had just poured his heart out to, the very same person who was his best friend.

Black hair started to sprout from its bald gray head, and a dark brown eye began to form on the right side, while the left side attempted to form one, only for it to come out half developed due to the extensive facial disfigurement it had sustained at the hands of Unit 01

As Shinji watched this sight unfold before him, he felt a sudden rush of sickness run up his throat and out of his mouth, quickly deteriorating in the pool of LCL. He couldn't believe the horrendous scene unfolding before his very eyes. He could hear the voices of those in the Command Center, but none of them made any sense to him, as they were all just muffled noises that were being drowned out by the concerto of horror occurring before him.

"Shinji!" Commander Ikari's voice finally reached through the mental block that Shinji had put up. "You have to destroy the Angel before it fully regenerates!"

"But its…"

"Your friend is dead!" He snarled. "Now destroy the Angel before it destroys you!"

"I can't…" His entire body was shaking as he watched the Angel sickly pull itself up while thick blood oozed from its gaping wound.

"Damn it!" Gendo slammed his fist down on his desk, knowing that he couldn't coach his son into fighting the Angel before it was too late. "Activate the Dummy Plug!"

Everyone in the Command Center turned to the Commander, their eyes wide. "But sir," Maya spoke. "it is still in the prototype sta-"

"Do it!" He roared. "If we don't stop this Angel now, there's no telling what kind of power it will have when merged with a human!"

Not wasting any time, the technicians complied and began the activation sequence for the Dummy Plug. Although, some were still trying to compose themselves after watching the event of Unit 03's transformation unfold before them. Hyuga saw at least three of the technicians, Maya being one of them, vomit at the sight, and he was sure there would be a lot more before this was over.

Shinji didn't notice when the nerve connectors to Unit 01 deactivated, as he was too frozen with horror to comprehend what was going on around him. It wasn't until Unit 01 started moving on its own when he realized that it was operating without his control as it slowly stomped towards the still recovering Angel.

"What the Hell is going on?!" His eyes went even wider as he started reaching for the controls, trying to stop the EVA, however it did nothing to stop Unit 01. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Don't hurt Toji!" He cried, only for his EVA to respond by delivering a vicious right hook to Toji's face, causing a spew of blood and gore to shoot out as it knocked the Angel's right eye out of socket, leaving it to dangle by the strands of the optic nerve.

While its pilot screamed in horror, Unit 01 followed this up by tackling the Angel, knocking it down onto its back while the purple mech straddled it. The Evangelion then grabbed the chest armor and ripped it off violently, exposing its bare human-like chest, save for the glowing red core in the sternum. Shinji expected for it to attempt to crack the core next, but instead it did something else entirely. Unit 01 plunged its right fist into the left side of the Angel's chest, causing blood to shoot up like a geyser into the air, dousing Unit 01 in the thick red liquid. The severely ravaged face of Toji looked on with its one disfigured eye as the Evangelion ripped its hand out of the Angel's chest, holding a still beating heart in its grasp.

Shinji vomited again, screaming like a madman as he watched the Evangelion crush the organ, making a sick squishing sound as its grip tightened. Blood poured from Unit 01's hand and fell onto the core of the Angel. However even though the core seemed to still be intact, the Angel was already starting to show signs of its life slipping away.

To finish it off, Unit 01 grasped both hands around Toji's head, while the one disfigured eye continued looking dead ahead, straight into Shinji's eyes as the EVA tightened its grip more and more until its skull cracked and it collapsed, spewing brain matter all around where its head used to be, oozes of blood slipping between Unit 01's fingers. The Angel's body then went limp once more, this time for good.

Shinji's screams of horror continued even long after the sickening scene had come to an end. In the Command Center, most of the technicians had either began crying, vomiting or had passed out entirely. Some did all three. Even Fuyutsuki shook his head in disbelief. The only person in the entire room who seemed unfazed by this was the Commander himself, who kept his hands folded together covering his mouth, not betraying any emotion whatsoever.

Hyuga looked down at his terminal, still hearing the cries of Shinji echoing throughout the room. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt and shook his head as he punched in a few keystrokes with one hand to sever the communication channel with Unit 01, bringing an end to his bone chilling screams of terror, but filling the room with an unnerving symphony of silence.


	11. 10

I knew I could get this one in before leaving for the beach.

Alright, well my next update will probably be around the 19th or the 20th. Till then, hope you guys like this chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Misato's eyes fluttered open, at first being blinded by a bright lights beaming down on her face, contrasting strongly against the night sky. As she came to, she was able to make out the silhouette of a man leaning over her. His long hair flowed behind him as his ponytail blew in the wind. Even though the floodlights behind him made it impossible to see his features, Katsuragi already knew who it was.

"Kaji…" She spoke wearily, trying to lean up, only to feel a sharp stabbing sensation shoot through her left arm. She grimaced in pain, falling back down to stretcher she was laying on while Kaji crouched down to her level.

"You hurt your arm pretty badly in the explosion." His soft voice was the just the thing she needed to hear, especially since the last thing she could remember was hearing Unit 03's head splitting roar when it went berserk and broke free of its restraints.

Unit 3...

"Oh God!" She shot up again, this time ignoring the pain in her arm. "Toji! Is he alright?!"

Kaji's expression darkened, and his eyes dulled. That alone was enough to make Misato's heart sink. "You probably shouldn't worry about that right now."

"The Hell I shouldn't!" She snapped, hissing through the pain that was shooting through the entirety of her left arm. "Where is Toji?!" Her lover's expression alone was enough to answer her question, but she was still holding onto one last stand of hope that maybe, just maybe the Fourth Child was okay.

It nearly broke Kaji's heart to have to cut that strand.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Father!" Shinji cried as Unit 01 stomped its right foot onto the peak of the pyramid that served as the entrance to NERV Headquarters. A tremor was sent through the entirety of the facility, even shaking the depths of Terminal Dogma, where the bulbous white Angel remained impaled to its crimson cross. "I have three minutes of power left. That's more than enough to destroy Headquarters and you along with it!"

Aoba looked up cautiously at the ceiling of Central Dogma, watching out for any falling debris. "In this state of mind, I think he might do it too."

Commander Ikari sat idly at his seat, while Sub Commander Fuyutsuki was nowhere to be found. Immediately after the thirteenth Angel was destroyed, Ikari sent him out to oversee NERV's public relations department. It wasn't often that NERV made public statements, but considering that the entire situation was an absolute abysmal mess, something needed to be addressed to keep the civilian populace at ease.

"I know you can hear me!" Shinji screamed, his voice echoing throughout Central Dogma before stomping Unit 01's foot into the top of the pyramid once more, this time knocking the peak of it off, sending it tumbling down the side. Dust and debris fell from above the Command Center, but nothing large enough to cause any real harm.

"Raise the LCL pressure to maximum." Commander Ikari growled. "I don't have time to deal with the temper tantrums of an insolent chil-"

"Hey!" A haughty, shrill voice echoed through the Command Center, bringing everyone's attention to the hologram being projected in the front of the room, showing a glowing red dot coming from Unit 02's position. "Stupid Shinji! What the Hell do you think you're doing?!"

Unit 01 froze as its foot came slamming down for another stomp, halting midway. "Asuka?" Shinji pulled up the video monitor to Unit 02, showing the redhead sitting in the cockpit of Unit 02, tightly gripping her right forearm. She looked terrible. Her eyes were wide, her pupils shrunken into little black beady dots, and her normally gorgeous red hair was a complete mess, wild strands dangling over her face. "I… I… You don't understan-"

"Shut up!" She hissed. "You're acting like a God damn child!"

He felt his lip quiver. "But Toji is…"

"I know." Asuka's tone simmered down a bit. "I saw everything…" She lowered her head and took a deep breath, clearly affected by what had happened as well. "But you can't do this. Please Shinji, just stop."

Shinji was still boiling with rage, and nothing would make him happier than to crush his father beneath Unit 01's gargantuan foot. However, he didn't want to go against Asuka's wishes either, so he reluctantly complied. Slowly, Ikari lowered Unit 01's foot gently atop of the pyramid, ceasing his attack on NERV Headquarters. Inside of the Command Center, all of the technicians and various employees took in deep breaths and made unanimous sighs of relief.

Despite this, Commander Ikari kept forward with his order. "Raise the pressure." He said coldly. "There is no point in taking unnecessary risks."

Maya almost protested, but knew that her qualms would go completely unheard. Against her better judgment, she made the necessary keystrokes and rose the pressure of the LCL inside of Shinji's Entry Plug to the maximum aloud.

It didn't take long for Ikari to feel the sudden change in the composition of the LCL flowing around him. At first it felt like his heart stopped beating all together, and then his lungs tightened. After that, there was a sudden release as everything suddenly went black.

Unit 01 slowly started to topple from atop the pyramid, crashing into the side of the structure back first and sliding down it, creating some superficial damage to the pyramid on its way down. Once it slid all the way down, the giant purple mech remained motionless on the artificial grass of the GeoFront, its yellow eyes dimming as its remaining battery power ran dry.

Inside of the Central Dogma, Hyuga fell back in his chair and shook his head. It wasn't even eight thirty and he was completely exhausted. He almost felt compelled to laugh at the craziness of everything that had happened. Within the past two hours, Hyuga had seen things that he thought could only happen in the worst of nightmares. This was no nightmare though. This was the reality they all had to face. At least he only had to face it from behind the safety of a computer monitor.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What a mess." Ritsuko shook her bandaged head, holding a handkerchief over her nose and mouth. It had been less than twenty four hours, but due to the blistering sun and humid weather, the half human-half Evangelion had already started to rot due to the Homo Sapien-like composition it adopted after absorbing Toji. Though they could keep the larger mammals away from the carcass, the cleanup crew had a hard time keeping the bugs away, as well as the flock of vultures that had begun feasting on its flesh.

"This is just horrible." Misato's voice rang through her ears as the lavender haired woman stepped up next to the doctor.

"I'm surprised you're here." She looked over at Misato, seeing that her wounded arm was now in a sling, and her right cheek had a small bandage on it.

"I had to come here." She replied, her tone very bleak and dull. "I had to see if it… if it was really true." Akagi could hear a crack in Misato's voice.

"Unfortunately it is." She looked back at the headless corpse, her eyes watering from the putrid smell radiating from it. "There is no sign of the Entry Plug or the Fourth Child, and the DNA tests show that this carcass is a perfect match to Toji Suzuhara." She inhaled, feeling disgusted by the boy's fate. "The Angel essentially absorbed him in an effort to regenerate itself. This in turn led to Toji becoming one with the Angel."

"I think I'm going to be sick." Misato lowered her head, and her eyes drearily dulled even more.

"If it makes you feel any better, the boy probably lost all conscious thought the moment he was absorbed into the Angel."

"It doesn't."

Ritsuko frowned underneath her handkerchief. "It's terrible that these children have to go through this, but there is just no other way."

"What about his sister?" Katsuragi asked, looking back at the blonde. "Does she know yet?"

She shook her head. "No. I'll tell her when I present her NERV's proposal."

"Proposal?" Misato's dreary expression shifted into one of puzzlement. "What are you talking about?"

"The report is going to read that Toji Suzuhara is K.I.A., meaning that he will no longer be under NERV's employment." She looked over at Misato, seeing her dulled eyes start to narrow. "This means that NERV can no longer keep Sakura in our care."

"There has to be some sort of exception made." Misato replied. "I mean look at this!" She motioned her good arm towards the wreckage laying before them. "You can't tell me we're going to just kick her out after her brother died like this!"

Ritsuko kept her calm expression. "Bare with me." She said. "Fortunately, Unit 01 didn't destroy the core of Unit 03, and being only nine years of age makes Sakura a prime candidate for the Marduk Institute's program. If she accepts, then she will remain in NERV's care, and when she has fully recovered, she will be put through the same training program that Asuka went through"

"Are you fucking serious?" Her eyes lit up, a raging fire burned behind them. "Are you seriously going to give that poor girl an ultimatum?!" Her voice could've brought giants to their knees in fear, but Ritsuko remained unmoved. "Either she has to pilot the same fucking machines that killed her brother, or we'll just kick her to the curb like a piece of trash?!"

"I don't make the rules, Major." Her voice stood firm as she lowered her handkerchief. "I only follow them."

"This is complete bullshit!" She snarled, stomping over to the blonde, grabbing her by the collar with her good hand. "What kind of monster are you?!"

Ritsuko's expression remained blank and unfazed by Misato's rage. She could see that Katsuragi was finding it incredibly unsettling how similar to Commander Ikari she had become in terms of her cynical and apathetic manner. "Do you think I take pleasure in this?" Her words slithered into Misato's ears like a snake. "Do you think I enjoy putting these children through Hell? Do you really think that I'm that sadistic?"

Misato didn't respond, as she had no honest answer she could give her. Ritsuko had been her friend for years. She used to trust her more than anyone else in the world at one point in time. Now though, she seemed like nothing more than a heartless shell of her former self.

"We live in a terrible world, Major. We live in a world where only the slimiest and most vile creatures can survive, while the goodhearted ones die one by one because of their selflessness. I hate thinking of the children as expendable tools. I hate manipulating them like puppets to do our bidding, but it's the only way we'll ever survive in this world. Either we adapt and become the very monsters that we're fighting against, or we hold true to our morals and die."

"Instead of making the world better place, just become the very things that are fucking it up." Misato growled. "One hell of a philosophy you've got there."

"Take my word for it when I say its one you better adopt as well." Ritsuko pulled herself out of the Major's grasp. "I'll see you back at Headquarters." The blonde turned away from Katsuragi and began making her way down the cracked road, leaving Misato to stand alone, letting her rage boil.

The lavender haired woman looked around her, trying to find something to punch. When she couldn't find anything, she merely stomped her boot down on the ground and growled in frustration. These children had been put through too much already. The last thing they needed was for Ritsuko to break them down even further.

XXXXXXXXXX

The brig was freezing cold. The chilly metal bench that Shinji remained seated on radiated its coolness through his black paints, and the wall made his spine shiver as he leaned against it. After coming to in NERV's medical wing, he found his right hand cuffed to his bed's railing, keeping him held in place. Around him stood two of NERV's security personnel who then escorted him into this cold and lonely cell.

After about three hours of sitting in isolation, the barred door finally opened, and he was told Commander Ikari would finally see him. In truth, Shinji could've cared less about what his father had to say to him. Not only did he make him fight his best friend, but he made him watch as he was brutally murdered. Anything that Gendo had to say to him wouldn't mean a damn thing to him.

After being removed from his cell, he was handcuffed once again and escorted to Commander Ikari's dark office, the only light source being the large window that overlooked the GeoFront. His father sat behind his desk in his standard position with his white gloved hands folded and his mouth hidden away behind them. The Commander's gaze remained fixated on his son, his glasses shimmering under the light. For about a minute the two stared at one another, neither saying a word. Shinji considered voicing his disgust with his father for forcing him to kill Toji, but he had come to accept that the fault was all his to bare. Had he not been so foolish and let Toji's Entry Plug slip away, then he'd still be here and everything would be as it had always been. Even so, his father still made him kill Toji, and for that he could not forgive him.

"You used an Evangelion Unit to carry out a personal vendetta." The Commander's voice echoed throughout the empty room. "You are aware that this is considered a treasonous act, aren't you?"

"Yes." He answered, his tone dull and void of emotion.

"Considering your importance here, I am willing to pull the strings necessary to pardon you for this offense, and you will be able to continue to pilot Unit 01." He inhaled. "However, if something like this were to happen again, I'd be given no choice but to…"

"You don't have to worry about that." The boy cut him off. "I'm never going to pilot that thing again."

Gendo exhaled in disappointment, but not the least bit surprised. "How unfortunate. You are aware that by resigning from NERV, Major Katsuragi will no longer be able to claim you as her ward, correct?"

"I know." He turned around and started making his way to the door. "I'll go back to live with my teacher."

"So you're running away again?" Gendo snickered. "Why am I not surprised." Shinji continued walking, not fazed by his father's words. "I can't possibly imagine what the Second Child possibly sees in you."

He stopped dead in his tracks. "You don't know anything about Asuka."

"Far more than you do." He replied. "Perhaps if you knew as much about her as I did, then you wouldn't be so quick to latch onto her."

"Shut up." Ikari had to fight to keep his voice from cracking.

"It doesn't matter anyways." He continued, despite his son's demand. "You will never see her again anyways. Now go." He commanded. "You will be erased from our records, and you will never hear from us ever again."

Fighting to keep his composure, Shinji continued out the door, allowing for it to shut automatically behind him.

Once his son was gone, Commander Ikari pressed a button that instantly connected him to Dr. Akagi. "Remove all records of Shinji Ikari." He spoke. "Rei will become the new designated pilot of Unit 01, with the Dummy Plug as backup."

"Understood." She replied.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji stood inside of Misato's apartment, staring at the front door. His backpack was filled with all of the necessities he'd need to take with him, while the rest of it would be shipped to him eventually. Second thoughts started crossing through his mind as he stood there, motionless. Kensuke left him a message earlier begging him not to leave. Shinji could've easily taken the call when it came in. However he just couldn't find it in himself to speak with his friend, especially considering what had happened to Toji. Besides the plea from his classmate, Shinji had already started to question whether or not leaving all of this behind was such a good idea. However all the reasons he tried to come up with to justify staying fell flat. He was certain Asuka hated him for not coming to her aid during the fight with Unit 03, and Misato broke his trust by refusing to tell him that Toji was the Fourth Child. Besides all that, he had probably broken the trust of all those at NERV. None of them would forget that he nearly crushed all of them under his feet during his tantrum. So even if he did decide to stay, they would never trust him again. Things would just be better if he left.

"So I guess you're leaving now, huh?"

Shinji turned to see his former guardian standing at the end of the hall wearing her red jacket with her left arm in a sling, Pen Pen waddling up next to her. "Yeah." He nodded. "I don't think I'm ever going to see any of you ever again, either."

The lavender haired woman looked down at her feet, her expression heavy and tired. "Even so, I'm going to keep your NERV ID card, as well as your password active."

"Why?" His tone was very straightforward and matter-of-fact. "I'm never getting in that thing ever again. So there's no point."

"I understand." She nodded. "I also understand that you're probably very angry at me for not telling you about Toji." She couldn't bring her eyes up to meet his. "I'm sorry about that, Shinji. I just thought it would be best if…"

"Best if what, Misato?" His words caused her to raise her eyes up and meet his. "Best if you kept me in the dark just like NERV always has? I used to think you were better than the rest them, Misato. But I was wrong. You're no different.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Her tone had become completely disheartened.

"Can I just ask one thing before I go?"

"Of course." She nodded.

"Why Toji? Why did it have to be Toji?"

The Major took in a deep breath before answering. "Class 2-A is where all fourth level EVA pilot candidates are grouped. This was brought to my attention not too long ago. Even I'm kept in the dark by NERV at times."

Shinji didn't say anything back, but instead merely shrugged before reaching for the doorknob. That in of itself would explain a lot of things, and it also provided even more reason for him to leave. He never wanted to see anything like what happened to Toji happen to anyone else he cared about, and if everyone in his class could potentially become EVA pilots, then that only increased the likelihood of that happening tenfold.

Once he turned the doorknob, he looked outside at the orange sky, seeing the sun setting over the tree line. As he looked down at the threshold separating the apartment from the outside, his first memory of arriving at Misato's apartment played through his head. He remembered so vividly how nervous he had been, how unaware he was of all the events that would follow his arrival. It was a much more innocent time. A time when he still felt he had a chance of being accepted by his father. A time when he was starting to feel that he had finally found his place in the world. That time was over, and once he accepted that, he stepped over the threshold, leaving his life here behind.

Ikari made his way down the walkway, figuring it would take about ten minutes to get to the train station, giving him about fifteen minutes to spare before his train arrived. He didn't know what he'd do once he went back to his teacher. His teacher had been so eager to send him away to Tokyo-3, and he was certain that once he found somewhere else to ship Shinji off to, he'd most certainly do it again the second he had the chance. Then Ikari would just be right back where he started, back to starting a new life in another place with people he didn't know.

"I can't believe it." A shrill voice rang through his ears. Ikari stopped and reared his head towards the stairwell, seeing a familiar redhead leaning against the wall, her arms crossed. He couldn't help but notice the yellow sundress she was wearing. It was the very same sundress she wore when they first met on the aircraft carrier all those months ago. He found it rather fitting that she was wearing it during what would very likely be their final meeting. "So you're really leaving, aren't you?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I just can't pilot the EVA anymore."

"Can't, or won't?" Her head tilted down a bit, letting her bangs cover her sapphire eyes.

"Both." He answered. "I just don't want to see what happened to Toji happen to anybody else ever again. Especially the people I care about."

"Fucking liar." Her words dripped with venom, causing Shinji to go a little wide eyed. "You're such a coward, you know that?"

"Asuka, you have no idea what I…"

"Shut up!" She hissed, raising her eyes up to him. When he saw her glare shimmering under the light of the setting sun, Shinji could see that her eyes didn't just betray her anger, they also betrayed her sorrow. "You're just a coward that likes to hide behind your so called 'friends' and let them fix all your problems."

"Asuka, I wanted to help you fight Unit 03." He tried to cease the incoming bombardment of Asuka's vocal thrashing. "I just couldn't! I didn't want you to get hurt, but I didn't want to hurt Toji either!"

"This isn't about that." She stood straight up, keeping her arms crossed as she walked over to the former pilot of Unit 01. "This is about how much of a terrible person you are."

He felt at a loss for words. "W..what do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" She fixated her glare on him. "What do I mean?!" Her face grew closer to his, merely inches away from him. "I mean that you go on and on about how much all of your so called 'friends' mean to you. You always act like you're worried about me, Misato, Wondergirl, Kensuke, and Hikari, but the truth is you're just in it for yourself!"

"How can you say that?" Shinji's arms dropped to his sides, feeling like she was being completely unfair in her accusations.

"Because its true!" She screamed. "You pretend to care about us so you can have our affection, but when we need you, you just run away because you're too scared to face your problems! Then you have the gall to say that it's because you're worried about seeing _us_ get hurt? What a load of bullshit!"

"Please Asuka," He begged. "just stop…"

"Maybe I could've forgiven you for being a coward. Maybe I could've looked past all of your flaws. But the fact that you pretended to care about us, the fact that you pretended to care about me! You led me on to believe that maybe you weren't such a bad guy! That maybe, just _maybe_ there was a chance that you and I could've been more than just friends, only to turn your back on me and run away just when I feel like I can finally let my guard down! That's what makes you so absolutely disgusting! God! Just looking at you makes me want to puke!"

Shinji had never felt so small in his entire life. He wanted to make a retort in his defense, but she had broken him in every way possible. There was no argument he could muster, and nothing he could say to make her feel any different. It was over. He could feel the hatred and the hurt in her words, and each syllable was like a dagger into his heart.

"Toji deserved a better friend than you." The redhead stepped back, making some distance between the two. "A real friend would've kept fighting to make sure that nothing like that ever happened to anyone else ever again, not run away with their tale between their legs and let them die in vain."

"I… I'm sorry."

Asuka merely shook her head at his apology. "Don't ever come back, Ikari. I never want to see your face again." With that, she stomped her way towards Misato's apartment, leaving a trail of simmering rage in her wake that Shinji could feel radiating off of her.

"Asuka." he murmured.

"What?!" She hissed, turning her furious gaze towards him, glaring into the back of his head.

"Maybe in a better world, things could've been different between us."

The German girl remained silent for a moment, letting the sound of the wind blow as she thought about how to respond. Once the gust settled, she finally had one, one that told Shinji exactly how she truly felt about him.

"Instead of just wishing you were in a better world, you should've tried to improve the one you're already in." The next thing Shinji heard was the sound of Misato's apartment door creaking open, followed by the sound of it slamming shut.

He stood motionless for a few minutes, looking down at his feet as he thought about what she had said to him. Maybe he was scared. Maybe he was a coward. Maybe he was a terrible person. Those reasons in of themselves were good enough reason for him to leave. He never did anyone a bit of good by being here, and if he stayed, all he would do is hurt those around him.

Taking in a deep breath, Shinji continued making his way to the elevator where he began his descent down to the floor level. From there he continued his long trek to the train station, leaving the apartment complex behind without even once looking back. He just couldn't bare to turn around and see what he was leaving behind.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ritsuko stood before the sleeping girl, holding her clipboard up against her chest as she looked down at Sakura. The girl had shoulder length brown hair which was strewn across her pillow, and soft babyish features. She was so young, so innocent, and so unsuspecting of what was to come.

Akagi inhaled before taking a seat in a chair next to the bed, bringing herself down closer to the little girl's level. The sound of the chair's legs scraping against the tiled floor echoed through the room, causing for Sakura's deep brown eyes to flutter open.

"Hello, Sakura." Ritsuko said in the softest tone she could muster. "How are you feeling?"

"Hi." She said meekly, her features giving way to her confusion. "Who are you?"

"My name is Doctor Akagi." She answered. "I work for NERV."

"Oh." The little girl leaned up, resting her elbows on the bed as she propped herself up. "Toji told me about you."

"Did he now?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "He said you were kinda mean."

Ritsuko frowned, but was not deterred by her words. In all her years working under the command of Gendo Ikari, she had grown very thick skinned, and was not as easily offended as she used to be. Sometimes she would even embrace her negative reputation, if only to keep her façade. "Unfortunately I have some bad news about your brother."

The little girl's eyes went wide, and her lip starting to quiver. "W..w..wha…what do you mean? Is he alright?"

The blonde bit down on her lower lip. She knew this girl was going to start bawling the moment she delivered the news, and she really didn't want to deal with that. "There was an accident during Unit 03's activation test."

"Activation test?"

She sighed, remembering that the girl was only nine years old and wasn't kept informed of these type of things. "There were some complications with Toji's EVA Unit." She explained, this time being more specific so she would understand. "And we were unfortunately unable to save your brother."

Ritsuko had seen a lot of terrible things in her life, she was a survivor of Second Impact, after all. But what she saw when Sakura's eyes dulled and her expression sunk hit her in such a way that she didn't know was possible. Though she herself had experienced loss before, she was old enough to understand it, to be able to cope with it and move on. This little girl though? She just wasn't that jaded.

"You're lying!" She denied, tears already starting to flow from her wide watery eyes.

Ritsuko sighed, rubbing her temples. "I'm not lying, Sakura."

"No!" She screamed, shaking her head as salty tears dripped from her cheeks onto the white sheets. "My brother is okay! I know he is! He has to be!"

"I wish that were the case." She truly wished that it was. She wasn't lying when she told Misato that she took no pleasure in any of this. "Unfortunately Toji is no longer with us, and because he is no longer a part of NERV, we cannot keep you in our care any longer."

"I don't care!" Her high pitched voice cracked. "I just want to see Toji!"

"Sakura," Dr. Akagi mustered up her soft tone again. "That just can't happen." She was beginning to grow frustrated with how much denial she was in. This wasn't the first time her family had been stricken by the tragedy of death. Her and Toji's mother died four years ago. Even if Sakura would've only been five at the time, she had to be able comprehend the prospect of death by now. "However, there is something that you can do for Toji."

The little girl sniffled and wiped her arm across her nose, and ran her palm over her eyes to clean away the tears that were still flowing. "How?"

Ritsuko thought of her next few words carefully. This would take a little bit of pulling and manipulating, but she had found that it was quite easy to do that to children, especially with children as young as Sakura.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So everything is squared away with the sister of the Fourth Child?" Commander Ikari looked across his dark office at the faux blonde standing before him.

"Indeed." Ritsuko nodded. "I was able to talk her into signing herself over to NERV. Tomorrow she'll be transported to the training facility in Germany, the same one Asuka attended. Once her leg is fully healed, they will begin grooming her to become an Evangelion pilot."

"Which Unit will they have her piloting?"

"We're unsure for the moment. The Germany branch will very likely begin construction of it once the Mass Produced Evangelion Series is completed."

"Good." Ikari replied. "I will report this to the Committee during our next meeting."

"They already know." Akagi said, turning her gaze partially towards the window. "I informed Chairman Keel of it before reporting to you."

The Commander frowned, but she couldn't see it. "Next time, I would like for you to report to me first before consulting the old men."

"Very well." She didn't sound like she was fully listening. Her mind was far off somewhere else. Manipulating Sakura into signing her life away to NERV wasn't exactly something she enjoyed doing. If anything, she felt completely rotten inside. Despite this, she knew that she made what was ultimately the best decision.

Had she not swayed Sakura into joining the Marduk Program, she would've been sent back to her old hospital where her recovery would be halted, and she would be left all alone with nobody to care for her. With NERV, she actually had a chance to fully recover, a chance to make a surrogate family within the confines of NERV, just as Shinji had with Misato.

"You are dismissed." Ikari spoke, bringing her attention back to him.

"Yes sir." Without so much as another word, Dr. Akagi turned around and headed out of his office, leaving the Commander to sit alone in solitude once more.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shinji sat alone at the train station, not a soul in sight. The soft breeze of the wind blew over him while he waited for his train to arrive. Asuka's words still rang through his ears. Every single thing that she said to him was so wrong. Everything she accused him of wasn't true in the least. Of course he cared about his friends. They were the only things that kept him going, but he still had to question himself that if that was true, then why was he running away? Why was he turning his back on them? He couldn't find the answer within himself, and in truth he was afraid of what that answer could be.

His trance-like state was halted as the sound of a high-pitched siren began to blare. The roaring horn grew louder and louder until it began to reach nearly deafening volumes. Instinctively he shot up from the bench, knowing exactly what the alarm was signaling before the voice came over the loudspeaker.

"All civilians report to your local shelter." The male voice echoed. "This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."

"An Angel." Shinji murmured to himself. He quickly reached for his pocket to snag his NERV ID card, only to remember he no longer carried it. In that instance, he felt a cold wave hit him. He hadn't ever felt what it was like to feel this helpless. Before he could always fight back. Now though, he could do nothing but be herded into the shelters like sheep awaiting the slaughter.

Off in the distance, towards the inner city, there was a brilliant explosion, followed by a shimmering purple light that rose from its epicenter. The light shot up into the sky and then formed two horizontal expansions three quarters of the way up, creating a glowing cross as the fires it created ravaged the city.

The brown haired teen looked up to the sky, seeing a large and bulky creature with a rectangular build slowly hovering downward, descending onto Tokyo-3 like the divine creatures that their namesake originated from. On its way down, it was quickly met by a barrage of A.A. missiles that did little more than mildly annoy it. Searching out the source of its irritation, the Angel spotted out the two turrets that remained hidden away in the hills and fired two more brilliant beams of light, eviscerating both of them with little effort.

"Oh my God." Ikari muttered, dropping his backpack where he stood. Never before had he witnessed the power of an Angel through the standpoint of a civilian. Never before had he seen these creatures and realized that all he could do was run and hide and hope that someone else would destroy them.

Instantly, second thoughts started shooting through his mind. He didn't want to cower and hide. He didn't want to die on his back, but he also wouldn't ever pilot an Evangelion again. He hadn't forgotten what those beasts had done to Toji, and he would never forget it.

Fighting his urge, Shinji bent down and picked up his backpack before looking around for signs to the nearest GeoFront shelter. If he was going to refuse to pilot the Evangelion, then he had to lean to live as a normal person again, and being a normal person meant running and hiding while the real heroes protected them so they could continue going on with their boring lives. Taking in a deep breath, Shinji began to sprint down the street, following the signs to the GeoFront shelters. It was all he could do.

XXXXXXXXXX

Considering the events occurring on the surface, Misato found the Command Center to be strangely in order, albeit very tense. Every single one of the technicians were doing their job with precise expertise, demonstrating why they had achieved such a high position in NERV.

"Major!" Hyuga called. "The Angel has already nearly pierced trough the surface! It's only be a matter of time until it breaches the GeoFront!"

"Shit." She hissed, looking at the screen of Hyuga's terminal. Sixteen layers of armor had been completely destroyed so far, and only three more stood in its way before it would penetrate the GeoFront. "We won't have time to get Unit 02 onto the surface in time. Send her to the GeoFront. She'll have to confront the Angel in front of Headquarters!"

"Roger." He replied, punching in a code to set the EVA's destination. Once in, he slammed down on the red button of his terminal, shooting the Crimson Evangelion from the cages into a series of shafts until it finally emerged in front of the pyramid, the iconic symbol that NERV had become so closely associated with.

"What's the situation with Rei?" She looked over at Ritsuko, who was leaning over Maya's shoulder, looking down at her terminal.

"We've been trying to start Evangelion Unit 01, but its rejecting the pilot!"

"What?!" Misato rushed over to the two women, looking at the screen of the terminal. Each and every single one of Unit 01's A10 connections were being refused. "I can't believe this! Not now!"

"Use the Dummy Plug." Commander Ikari's tone remained calm and collected. "Send Rei out in Unit 00."

Misato's head reared back at her superior. "But Unit 00 isn't fully repaired yet! It's still missing its left arm, and the right one hasn't even fully regenerated yet!"

"I'm aware of this." The Commander replied. "But with Unit 01's Dummy Plug on backup, she should hold up just fine."

The lavender haired woman growled under her breath, feeling the need to protest his orders.

"It's okay." A ghostly voice came from Maya's terminal, catching the Major's attention. "I can be replaced if need be."

Misato felt a hollowness in her chest upon hearing the girl's rather bleak words. However the adrenaline kept her moving and kept her from dwelling on Rei's choice to face the Angel with such a severe handicap.

"Fine." She conceded. "But please try not to get yourself killed, okay?"

"Roger." Her voice sounded weak. Attempting to synch with Unit 01 must've taken a lot out of her.

Suddenly there was a loud rumbling sound that came from the surface, which could even be heard from the depths of Central Dogma, causing the entire Command Center to shake violently. Everyone looked around at one another, trying to find the source of the sudden tremor, only for Aoba to announce it to everyone.

"The Angel has breached the GeoFront!" He exclaimed, his eyes wide. "It's making its way towards Headquarters!"

"Fuck!" Misato looked up at the giant holographic projection of the GeoFront hovering before the entire Command Center, spotting the blue dot near the top of the hologram slowly making its way down to the red one at the bottom. "Is the Dummy Plug ready yet?!" She kept her eyes on the hologram. "I don't want Asuka fighting that thing alone!"

"It's not working!" Maya almost sounded like she was about to cry.

"What the Hell do you mean it's not working?!" Katsuragi could feel a strain in her throat. All of the yelling was starting to wear down on her vocal cords.

"It's rejecting the Dummy Plug." Ritsuko answered for her protégé. "Why the Hell is it rejecting it now of all times?"

Misato's eyes were drawn to the command deck as she saw the blocky figure of Commander Ikari rise from his seat. She saw him turn to Sub Commander Fuyutsuki, saying something to him before he made his way towards his private elevator to the cages. Realizing that her attention was needed elsewhere, she brought her gaze back to the hologram.

"Asuka, what's your situation?"

"Locked and loaded." She answered as Unit 02 grabbed a four-hundred and forty millimeter Gatling gun from the stockpiles of weapons that had been delivered to her position for this fight. "I'm about to make contact with the Angel."

The redhead looked up towards the breached ceiling of the GeoFront, taking aim at the descending creature. Its blocky greenish frame slowly descended towards her, its bright red core shimmering as grew closer. Asuka was able to get a good look at its head, if you could call it that. Above its core, a skeletal-like face protruded out of its body, two black holes serving as its eyes, and a black, abyssal maw for a mouth.

Not wasting anymore time, Asuka rose the giant multi-barreled gun and took aim at the beast before holding down the trigger. The six long metal barrels started spinning, gaining a descent speed of around six rotations per second before the bullets started flying.

With an endless series of concussive bangs, Unit 02 unloaded the massive weapon into its target. Even with the incredible strength of her EVA, it took all of her effort to keep the gun from kicking upwards from the recoil.

"Die you bastard!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as hundreds of giant bullets hurdled their way towards the monster, each one bouncing off of its AT Field. "Why won't you just go down?!" Seeing that the impressive weapon was doing little to the Angel's barrier, she quickly discarded the heavy weapon for something that traded in speed for firepower.

Unit 02 took hold of a large bazooka, placing it over its left shoulder. After flipping a switch to raise the sights, Asuka took careful aim, centering the Angel's core in the crosshairs. Then with the press of a button on the top of the massive gun, a V-3 ballistic rocket shot out from the bazooka, leaving a smoke trail in its wake as it zoomed towards the Angel. On contact, the missile exploded into a concussive, fiery, eruption, engulfing the entire Angel.

"Got you!" Asuka clenched her fist and jerked her arm down in a triumphant gesture, only to be brought out of her short lived victory when the smoke finally cleared. "No way!" Her sapphire eyes went wide with astonishment as she watched the completely unscathed creature continue its descent downwards, comingto a stop about twenty or so meters above the ground, leaving a little room between it and the surface for it to hover.

"Shiesse!" The redhead quickly threw down the weapon and grabbed the first two guns she could get her hands on. With a pallet gun in one hand and a assault rifle in the other, Asuka unloaded everything she had into the Angel in a desperate attempt to defeat it at range. The Angel made no effort to even raise its AT Field, instead opting to use its hard shell-like armor to deflect the relatively low-caliber rounds. "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" She screamed in a fusion of both anger and fright. "Why won't you just die?!"

The blocky Angel hovered motionless as two silver, ribbon-like appendages extended from its giant, gray, pauldron-like shoulders. Before Unit 02 could properly react, both of the silver ribbons shot forward with blinding speed, cutting straight through both of the crimson Evangelion's arms, just below the shoulders.

The redhead let out a scream of terror and pain as she felt her EVA's arms sever. With a whipping motion, the Angel jerked both of the ribbons back, sending both of Unit 02's arms and the weapons they were holding flying through the air, gushing red LCL spouting from the points of amputation. The wounded redhead looked at both of her arms, which her hands remained tightly gripped to, having to remind herself that the arms she lost were not her own.

"Asuka!" Misato screamed. "Retreat!"

The German girl rose her furious eyes to her opponent which stood before her, Misato's words going completely unheard. Perhaps she felt it was foolish to feel this way, but for some reason she felt like Shinji was watching her, taunting her, laughing at her for her failure. She knew that he could see her right now, standing there helpless at the Angel's mercy. Just the thought of him judging her made her fury turn into unbound rage.

"I'll show you, Ikari!" She screamed, charging Unit 02 towards the hovering enemy. At first the Angel didn't respond, seemingly confused by the girl's suicidal attack. Shrugging it off, the Angel rose its silver ribbons again, this time taking aim at Unit 02's head.

With her instincts and her synch ratio at its peak, Asuka ducked down just in the nick of time to avoid the potentially fatal blow, and continued her charge. By the time the Angel was able to start retracting its ribbons, Unit 02 was already within a close enough proximity to cancel out its AT Field, destroying its barrier.

"Eat this, you son of a bitch!" Asuka made Unit 02 crouch down onto one knee, and opened the tops of both its shoulder pylons. Followed by this was a loud bang as dozens of razor sharp titanium spikes shot out of the pylons, piercing the Angel's armor.

It bellowed in pain as the spikes made contact, its ribbon arms shaking and trembling. Asuka looked up to see that some of the spikes managed to pierce its core, but not enough to fully destroy it. Seeing her opportunity to end it all here, Unit 02 rose to its feet and held its right leg in the air as it prepared to deliver a hard kick to its core.

Before she could get the chance to lunge her leg forward though, the Angel made one desperate swing with its left ribbon, slicing off the foot Unit 02 was standing on. Asuka cried out as the Evangelion toppled over, gripping her foot in complete agony. The next attack the Angel made happened too quickly for her to even prepare for. With one more vicious swing, one of its ribbons slung across Unit 02's neck, completely decapitating it before it even hit the ground, sending the disembodied head flying across the GeoFront.

Everything in Asuka's vision went completely red. All she could feel was nothing but pain circulating through her entire body. It felt like a thousand daggers were stabbing into every single nerve of her body. She didn't even know that such pain was even possible. In her writhing and withering, she didn't even notice that the Angel had begun to move past her. All she could think of was the pain, and once that started to subside, her failure was the only thing that her mind could dwell on.

XXXXXXXXXX

The inside of the shelter was incredibly crowded. Hundreds of people were crammed into the tiny fifteen by fifteen meter bunker, crammed shoulder to shoulder. Children were crying, and the sounds of the ensuing battle outside carried over into the shelter, only increasing the tension for those inside. Fortunately, Shinji managed to find a spot in the corner farthest away from everyone, giving him a little less than a meter of leg room.

The tension came to a peak as a loud boom filled the shelter. Ikari quickly rose his eyes to the source of the noise, seeing the large group of people scream in terror as they stared horridly at the gaping hole in the wall separating them from the Angel outside. That wasn't what scared Shinji though. What scared him was what created the giant hole in the first place.

A giant, severed red and white head with four glowing green eyes laid amongst the rubble, unmistakably the head of Asuka's Evangelion Unit 02. He felt his blood turn ice cold as he stared at the decapitated head in complete horror while everyone else in the shelter who survived the impact quickly began evacuating.

"Asuka…" He uttered, stepping through the giant hole in the wall, gazing at NERV Headquarters which remained off in the distance. The blocky Angel was beginning to make its approach towards the pyramid, and on the ground right behind it was a severely damaged Unit 02. Both its arms were missing, as was its left foot, and of course its head.

"It's terrible, isn't it?"

Shinji's attention quickly went to the voice of the person standing next to him, finding a long haired man standing before him with a hose in hand, watering a patch of melons. "Kaji? What are you doing out here? It's dangerous."

"We're all going to die anyways." He shrugged, his demeanor eerily calm. "Might as well die doing what we love."

"Die?"

"Yes." He nodded, looking towards Unit 02's broken body. "When the Angel reaches Adam, who lies in the depths of Terminal Dogma beneath NERV Headquarters, the entire human race will be purged from existence."

"Wait, what?" Shinji looked back at the Angel, seeing it hover towards the pyramid. "What do you mean purge the human race?"

"As foretold by the Dead Sea Scrolls, once an Angel makes contact with Adam, mankind will cease to exist, and the world will become taken over by all of Adam's children, the Angels."

"But…" Ikari kept looking back between Kaji, Unit 02, and the Angel, trying to make sense of all this. "Then that means everyone I care about will…"

"Die." He closed his eyes and tilted his head down. "Yes. They will." Slowly his head rose back up and he redirected his gaze at Shinji. "But you can prevent that. You can save them. You are the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01, after all."

"But then that would mean I'd have to…" Before he could say anything else, Shinji's attention was brought back to NERV Headquarters as one of the launch bays opened up, revealing an almost armless Unit 00 with only part of its right arm regenerated. It was barely more than a nub, but it was just big enough to tightly squeeze a large oval shaped object against its body. Upon closer inspection, Shinji began to make out the writing printed onto the object.

N-2

Inside of Unit 00's Entry Plug, Rei bravely charged Unit 00 forward, keeping the N-2 mine tucked as close to her as possible. The cockpit quickly became filled with objections from the crew members inside of the Command Center, seeing what she was doing. However, the blue haired girl ignored all their qualms, pressing forward anyways. Even if she died in all this, then at least she could die knowing that she saved Shinji, the only person who had ever shown her true kindness.

Much like with Unit 02, the Angel seemed more confused than anything by her blind charge forward. It rose up its silver ribbons again, shooting them towards Unit 00, only for it to sidestep both of attacks. Her footwork was much more precise than Asuka's was, as she wasn't being led by blind rage, but instead by her fearless strategic movement.

As Unit 00 drew closer to the Angel, it quickly attempted to raise its AT Field, only to remember that Unit 02 had canceled it out in their prior battle. Unable to hold Unit 00 back, it quickly started to lower the shield over its damaged core to cover itself from Unit 00's suicide attack as it tackled the Angel, placing the N-2 mine as close to its core as possible. However, when the shield lowered, the spikes Unit 02 impaled its core with kept it from closing all the way, leaving the core partially exposed, taking the brunt of the explosion.

Shinji and Kaji covered their eyes as the brilliant light flashed before them. Rei kept the explosion confined into a smaller area using her own AT Field, keeping all of the civilians, as well as those in NERV Headquarters safe from the blast.

"Rei!" Shinji screamed, running towards the explosion. Once the dust settled, Unit 00 remained barely standing, its armor severely burnt and damaged. The Angel on the other hand still stood strong, its body unharmed by the suicide attack. However its core now looked like it was just one good hit away from shattering completely.

"It looks like they need you." Kaji said, turning off the hose. "So what are you going to do?"

Shinji could feel his heart race as he watched Unit 00 topple over, joining Unit 02 on the ground while the Angel continued its trek towards NERV. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Asuka and Rei were severely hurt, if not dead, and it was all his fault. Had he been there to help them, then things wouldn't have turned out this way. Things would've been different, but instead he chose to run away.

"_You pretend to care about us so you can have our affection, but when we need you, you just run away because you're too scared to face your problems! Then you have the gall to say that it's because you're worried about seeing us get hurt? What a load of bullshit!"_

Shinji gulped as he recalled Asuka's words. She was right. He wasn't running away because he was afraid of seeing them get hurt. He had ran away because _he_ was afraid of ending up like Toji. _He_ was afraid of meeting an equally terrible fate. _He_ ran away and left his friends to die.

"I'm not going to run away anymore." He murmured, clenching his fists.

"Then go." Kaji said, putting his hose down. "The world needs you, Shinji."

The brown haired pilot of Unit 01 turned around and nodded at Kaji, giving him his mutual thanks as he dashed towards the giant pyramid, leaving the abandon shelter behind. He was running right into the face of danger, and he wasn't even sure if he would come out alive. But the least he could do is try. At least then he'd have no regrets.

XXXXXXXXXX

"The Angel has breached the exterior wall!" Aoba screamed, causing the already frantic staff to nearly go ballistic.

"What is the situation with Unit 01?!" Misato ran over to Maya's terminal, which Ritsuko had taken a seat at, pushing Maya to the side.

"It's still not accepting the Dummy Plug!" The otherwise normally composed blonde was showing a fearful side to her that many of the NERV staff rarely ever saw. That alone was enough to destroy what little morale they had left. "I've tried everything! I've tried rerouting the software! I've tried manipulating the activation threshold! I've even tried manually manipulating the God damn sychrograph! Nothing is working!"

"We're doomed then." Misato found it surprisingly easy to accept this realization. Without Unit 01, nothing stood in between the Angel and the bulbous white monstrosity that started all this. Though she knew there was no hope left for mankind, she didn't have to let the rest of the NERV staff know that. The least she could do was give them some false sense of hope that they could possibly get out of this alive. "Everyone, evacuate now!" She commanded, prompting for the lower ranking technicians to quickly abandon their terminals and rush out of the nearest exists in a desperate stampede to flee NERV Headquarters.

"What about us?" Hyuga looked up at her. "Do you want for us to go too."

"If you want to leave, no one will hold it against you." She answered, walking up tto the barrier separating the lower deck from the floating hologram. "But I'm not going anywhere." She raised her good hand to her chest and clenched onto the silver cross tied around her neck.

"If you're staying here, then so am I." Hyuga adjusted his glasses, which had become cracked at some point during the Angel's breach of Headquarters.

"Same here." Aoba sounded as if he had already come to terms with his imminent demise. "I'll stay here with you guys."

"Me too." Maya added, looking over at Dr. Akagi, who was still furiously typing away at her terminal. It was clear she wasn't going anywhere either.

Misato cracked a faint smile, feeling honored to have all of these wonderful people standing by her side to the very end. "What about you?" She turned around and looked up towards the command deck, gazing up at the elderly gentlemen who's hands remained clasped behind the small of his back. "Are you going to stay with us too, Sub Commander?"

Fuyutsuki grinned, his expression betraying no sense of worry or fear. "It would be an honor."

XXXXXXXXXX

Inside of the cages, Commander Ikari did all of the manual adjusting he could possibly do, but Unit 01 remained motionless, locked in its dormant state. His normally stony features began to betray an emotion that not many had seen from him before. It was one of hurt.

"Why, Yui?" He asked, staring into the visage of the purple mech. "Why are you doing this to me?"

He didn't receive an answer, which was all the same to him because he didn't expect to get one. Instead he was just met by the cold stare of the sleeping bionic beast. Though this wasn't the ending he had planned on happening, he at least took some solace in knowing that in the end, he would die alongside Yui, even if it meant that he wouldn't be meeting her on the other side.

"Father!" A familiar voice rang, bringing Gendo's attention to the catwalk below. As he looked down, he could see the son he never thought he'd meet again standing before him. His breath was labored, and his posture was slouched. He looked as though he had just ran a marathon.

Gendo felt like he should've been happy, possibly even overjoyed to see Shinji here. However, there was no such feeling. He knew that there was no reason for the boy to be here. He clearly didn't want to pilot Unit 01, and nobody could pilot the EVA unless they were willing to. Commander Ikari knew without a doubt in his mind that Shinji wasn't here because he wanted to; he was here because he felt obligated to. That wasn't a good enough reason.

"What are you doing here?" Commander Ikari growled, looking down at his panting son.

Shinji looked up at him with his hazel eyes, taking a moment to catch his breath. There were plenty of reasons he was here, and he wanted to tell his father all of them. However time was of the essence, and only precious seconds remained until the Angel would reach Terminal Dogma and bring an end to everyone and everything Shinji had ever grown to care about.

So he gave the Commander his answer.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Command Center began to shake violently as the blocky Angel shattered its way through the wall, completely destroying all the circuitry that composed the hologram floating in the front of the room. Its skeletal face gazed at the six people, gauging them, wondering why they were not fleeing from it. The Angel found it almost annoying to not be feared as it properly should've been. So it decided to make an example out of them.

Its eyes began to glow a bright purplish-pink as it charged up its attack. Maya and Aoba covered their eyes. Hyuga and Dr. Akagi tried to face the Angel, but found themselves attempting to hind their faces from it, afraid to look into their own impending death. Only Misato and Sub Commander Fuyutsuki kept their stares directed at the monstrosity, refusing to show their fear.

"I'm sorry, Father." Misato clung onto the cross one last time, knowing that this was truly the end.

Suddenly there was another loud crash in the Command Center as a giant purple mech busted through a nearby wall, smashing square into the side of the Angel, causing its energy blast to shoot upwards, completely eviscerating the ceiling of NERV HQ.

"Unit 01?" Ritsuko couldn't believe what she was seeing. "But the Dummy Plug…"

"That's not the Dummy Plug!" Misato couldn't hide the joy in her voice. "That's Shinji!"

The humanoid machine wrestled the Angel away from the Command Center, and shoved it through the wall it had just charged through, taking the fight to the cages. In the struggle, the Angel managed to get off another shot with its laser eyes, completely severing Unit 01's left arm, sending a spew of blood red LCL all over the wall, a large portion of it splattering onto Commander Ikari, who remained unmoved as he continued watching the battle ensue.

Unit 01 slammed the Angel up against the far wall of the cages, face first, placing both the Angel and itself on the launch pad. From the Command Center, Misato could see what was going on through the damaged wall, and quickly caught on to what Shinji's intentions were. Rushing over to Hyuga's terminal, she slammed down on the launch button, sending both the Angel and the EVA to the surface of the GeoFront

Once the platform shot up, the purple Evangelion grinded its opponent's face against the wall, sending sparks flying the entire way up to the surface. The Angel made a howl in pain that sounded like something that would come from a whale or some sort of aquatic creature. Unit 01 showed no remorse though, pushing the Angel harder against the wall, intending to inflict as much damage and pain to it as possible.

Once the two arrived on the surface, Unit 01 continued the pummeling by using its remaining arm to slam the Angel down onto its back before straddling on top of it where the EVA began to smash its fist away at the Angel's already damaged core.

The remaining NERV staff quickly boarded the emergency elevator, bringing them up to the surface as well, giving them all a perfect view of the ensuing battle from afar. Maya carried her laptop with her, being the only way to possibly receive any data on Unit 01 since the rest of their hardware was fried.

"He's winning!" Misato felt like she was about to jump up and down with joy. "He's actually winning!"

"Uh, Major…" Maya's tone brought her enthusiasm to a grinding halt. "Unit 01 only has five seconds of battery power remaining."

The Evangelion smashed its fist into the core again, causing the spider web cracks to dance around the red sphere. It was amazing that it was still being held together, at this point it looked as if a mere stiff wind would shatter it. The mech drew its fist back for one final punch, but just as it was about to lunge forward, the timer on Maya's laptop hit zero, bringing its motion to a full stop as the EVA lurched forward without power.

"No!" Katsuragi screamed. "This can't be happening!"

The Angel remained motionless for a moment, as if wondering why its opponent stopped attacking. Realizing that now was a prime opportunity to take the offensive, the Angel rose one of its ribbon arms up to Unit 01's face and took hold of it by completely wrapping up its head before tossing it onto the side of the pyramid. With Unit 01 down, the Angel rose up from the ground and began to hover towards its opponent. After taking a moment to examine the Evangelion, it shot a ribbon forward, slicing the chest plate off of the EVA, exposing a glowing red core in its lower abdomen.

"Oh no…" Dr. Akagi held her hand over her mouth.

"It's exposed the core!" Misato shrieked. "It's going to destroy Unit 01!"

As if on cue, the Angel began shooting its ribbon arms forward in succession, aiming each hit for Unit 01's core. Each hit made the giant mech tremble as the cracks on its core grew more and more prominent until the cracks began to turn into fissures. There was no way that it would be able to withstand anymore punishment before breaking, at which point Unit 01 would be lost forever.

"Oh my God!" Maya jumped back from her laptop, which she had placed on the ground, catching the attention of all those around her.

"What's going on?" Ritsuko asked.

"Shinji's synch ratio, it's rising!"

"How?!" Dr. Akagi placed herself next to Maya, looking at her laptop's monitor, her eyes going wide the moment she saw looked at Unit 01's synchrograph. "Oh God. It's risen over four-hundred percent!"

"What?!" Misato quickly turned to face the downed mech and the Angel attacking it, and began to witness a sight that she didn't think possible unfold before her.

Unit 01's dimmed eyes lit up again as it quickly rose its hand up, blocking the final strike from its opponent. With its powerful AT Field, the ribbon was sliced to bits by Unit 01's fingers, without so much as damaging the Evangelion in the slightest. It then took hold of the ribbon in a tight grasp and jerked the Angel towards it, bringing its skeletal face nose to nose with it. The purple mech bellowed a deep growl as the restraints around its mouth unbolted, exposing its large white teeth. With a firm kick, Unit 01 knocked the Angel back, but kept its grip on the ribbon, causing for it to completely detach from the Angel's shoulder.

From afar, the group watched on in shock as the EVA placed the ribbon over its severed arm, its cells bonding with it and growing around it to form a fully fleshed and unarmored arm. It flexed its hand, cracking all of its newly developed digits as it did so. With a new limb, the Evangelion rose its gaze towards the Angel and opened its great maw as it made a bloodcurdling roar that turned Misato's blood to ice.

"It's happening." Ritsuko sounded utterly terrified. "It's becoming aware."

Unit 01 lowered itself onto all fours and began crawling in a spider-like manner towards the downed Angel. Then like a predator in the wild, it dug its claws deep into its hard exterior, ripping through it with ease. Once a deep gash was made, the EVA lowered its head into the wound and began to devour the entrails of the monster.

Misato jumped back with shock, unable to believe what she was seeing. She wanted to believe that there was some sort of explanation for what it was doing, but there was no denying it. Unit 01 was _eating_ the Angel .

The Evangelion viciously took another chunk out of the Angel's flesh, pulling out a large gray organ with its teeth, swallowing it whole. As Ritsuko watched on, she gasped at what it had just done.

"Oh my God. It's devoured the S2 organ!"

"The S2 organ?" Misato looked over at the faux blonde. "You mean the same thing that was in Unit 03?"

"Yes!" She cried. "The EVA has become completely self aware and is now devouring it for its own personal gains!"

"You mean these things can think for themselves?!" Misato looked away from the mech for a moment, turning her glare towards Dr. Akagi. "How?!"

"The armor we put them in keeps their minds in check. It keeps them from acting on their own freewill. Now that its free, it has become completely aware of everything."

"Oh God." Misato looked back at the EVA, watching it rise up from the Angel and make another roar as chucks of its armor busted off of it, piece by piece, exposing the body that lied underneath. It looked almost human at first glance. Its skin tone, its body structure. But when looked at closely, one could see the terrifying appearance it truly had, especially when looking into its feral green eyes.

With its restraints all but gone, the EVA returned to its meal, feasting on the flesh of its enemy. As it finished devouring its foe, Misato shook her head in complete disbelief. These were the things they were using to fight the Angels? These monsters? Katsuragi recalled what Ritsuko had said to her earlier, remembering what she said about having to either become the very monsters they were fighting against, or die. That's exactly what NERV had done. They took the monsters they were fighting against and made them into weapons. They turned these all-powerful creatures into tools to fight off the Angels, and now the tools had finally started to rebel against their creators.

The group continued watching on in horror while the Evangelion rose up to its feet and made one more bellowing roar, throwing its arms back and raising its head to the sky, howling like a rabid wolf. The deep, echoing voice shook the entire GeoFront, nearly knocking all of them off their feet. Once its terrifying battle cry came to an end, its green eyes started to dull and its body toppled over, falling motionless on the ground, shaking the entire GeoFront once more. Though The EVA's rampage had ended, Misato's worries didn't.

"Oh God, Shinji…"


End file.
